MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Dominica's PM retains power after snap elections

Skerrit has been in office since 2004

Dominica's incumbent Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit's party Tuesday scored yet another victory in the country's snap elections, according to preliminary results which showed the ruling DLP winning 15 of the 21 parliamentary seats at stake.

The 50-year-old Skerrit, of the Dominica Labor Party (DLP), thus becomes the longest-serving Prime Minister in the history of the Caribbean country after around 81,000 people were registered to vote in the early elections (two years ahead of the deadline), which were boycotted by the main opposition parties, the United Workers Party and the Dominica Freedom Party, who would rather see some electoral reforms introduced first. The Organization of American States and the Caribbean Court of Justice, among others, also have recommended changes to fight potential voter fraud.

The elections were monitored by observers from the Caribbean Community (Caricom), the Organization of American States (OAS), and the British Commonwealth.

As per the national Constitution, the Prime Minister may call elections at any time. After securing his fifth mandate, Skerrit, in office since 2004, said this would be his last.

Skerrit's DLP automatically grabbed several House of Assembly seats since the opposition did not submit any candidates. The remaining nine members are chosen by the assembly or president and two other positions are ex-officio, held by the speaker and attorney general.