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2005 Dominican general election

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FieldValue
countryDominica
typeparliamentary
previous_election2000 Dominican general election
previous_year2000
next_election2009 Dominican general election
next_year2009
seats_for_election21 of the 30 seats in the House of Assembly
majority_seats11
election_date5 May 2005
registered65,889
turnout59.09% ( 1.08pp)
image1RooseveltSkerrit.jpg
leader1Roosevelt Skerrit
party1Dominica Labour Party
leaders_seat1Vieille Case
last_election142.91%, 10 seats
seats112
seat_change12
popular_vote119,741
percentage152.07%
swing19.16pp
image2Edison James visits EU (cropped).jpg
leader2Edison James
party2United Workers' Party (Dominica)
leaders_seat2Marigot
last_election243.44%, 9 seats
seats28
seat_change21
popular_vote216,529
percentage243.60%
swing20.16pp
map_imageMap of the 2005 Dominican general election.svg
map_captionResults by constituency
titlePrime Minister
posttitleElected Prime Minister
before_electionRoosevelt Skerrit
before_partyDominica Labour Party
after_electionRoosevelt Skerrit
after_partyDominica Labour Party

General elections were held in Dominica on 5 May 2005. The result was a victory for the ruling Dominica Labour Party, which won 12 of the 21 seats in the House of Assembly. The opposition United Workers' Party unsuccessfully made legal challenges to several of the constituency results.

Background

In the previous 2000 elections the ruling United Workers' Party won one fewer seats than the Dominica Labour Party, despite receiving more votes. As a result, the Dominica Labour Party with 10 seats was able to form a coalition government with the Dominica Freedom Party, which had won two seats. In 2004, Prime Minister Pierre Charles died and was succeeded by Minister of Education Roosevelt Skerrit.

Campaign

On 7 April Skerrit announced that the elections would take place on 5 May.

Major elections issues included an International Monetary Fund austerity economic plan for Dominica and the Dominica Labour Party government's decision to switch recognition from the Republic of China (Taiwan) to the People's Republic of China.

On the Monday before the election, there was an incident when motorcades for the two main parties collided with each other. No major injuries resulted and rallies for each party were held afterwards. The police then refused either party permission to hold motorcades on the day before the election.

The campaign was judged as being particularly long and divisive, with the election seen as very close and likely to come down to voter turnout.

Opinion polls

A poll in February predicted that the United Workers' Party would win 12 seats, compared to 7 for the Dominica Labour Party and 2 for the Dominica Freedom Party. However another poll in March had the Dominica Labour Party winning 12 seats, the United Workers' Party 7 seats and the Dominica Freedom Party 2 seats.

Results

The Dominica Labour Party increased their number of seats from 10 to 12, obtaining a majority. The United Workers' Party lost one seat, one independent candidate was elected, whilst the Dominica Freedom Party lost both its seats. It was the first election in 35 years where the Dominica Freedom Party—the governing party of Eugenia Charles from 1980 to 1995—did not win any seats.{{cite web| url = http://www.antiguasun.com/paper/?as=view&sun=400541017505192005&an=393220098805192005&ac=Regional | title = Tough times for Dominica Freedom Party

List of elected members

ConstituencyPartyElected member
Castle BruceUnited Workers' Party (Dominica)}}"UWP
ColihautIndependent politician}}"IND
CottageDominica Labour Party }}"DLP
Grand BayDominica Labour Party }}"DLP
La PlaineUnited Workers' Party (Dominica)}}"UWP
MahautDominica Labour Party }}"DLP
MarigotUnited Workers' Party (Dominica)}}"UWP
Morne Jaune/Riviere CyriqueUnited Workers' Party (Dominica)}}"UWP
Paix BoucheDominica Labour Party }}"DLP
Petite SavanneDominica Labour Party }}"DLP
PortsmouthDominica Labour Party }}"DLP
Roseau-CentralUnited Workers' Party (Dominica)}}"UWP
Roseau-NorthUnited Workers' Party (Dominica)}}"UWP
Roseau-SouthDominica Labour Party }}"DLP
Roseau-ValleyUnited Workers' Party (Dominica)}}"UWP
SalisburyUnited Workers' Party (Dominica)}}"UWP
SalybiaDominica Labour Party }}"DLP
St. JosephDominica Labour Party }}"DLP
SoufrièreDominica Labour Party }}"DLP
Vieille CaseDominica Labour Party }}"DLP
WesleyUnited Workers' Party (Dominica)}}"UWP
Source: Electoral Office

Aftermath

Following the elections, the United Workers' Party made legal challenges to the results of five constituencies, Castle Bruce, Soufriere, Mahaut, St Joseph and Carib Territory alleging that there were problems with the counts and that the results were rigged by the government. Initial counts in the Castle Bruce constituency had the United Workers' Party candidate ahead but the final result saw the Dominica Labour Party win by one vote. Opposition supporters protested the results outside of the government headquarters in Roseau. On the 28 October 2005 the legal challenges were dismissed by a High Court Justice, Hugh Rawlins. The appeals court also rejected the lawsuit in April 2006 and the United Workers' Party then dropped the challenges.

References

References

  1. "General Election 2005". News-Dominica.com.
  2. (September 2017). "Dominica". [[Angus Reid Global Monitor]] }}{{dead link.
  3. (2005-05-05). "Dominica's general election turnout "good" - officials". Caribbean Net News.
  4. (2005-05-04). "Dominica holds general elections". [[BBC Online]].
  5. (2005-05-06). "Dominican leader wants unity". [[BBC Online]].
  6. (2005-05-06). "Governing party retains power in Dominica". [[The Jamaica Observer]].
  7. (2005-05-04). "Dominican police investigate election motorcade furore". Caribbean Net News.
  8. (2005-04-11). "Dominica vote too close to call". [[The Jamaica Observer]].
  9. "Dominica: Legislative election of 5 May 2005". Psephos - Adam Carr's Election Archive.
  10. (2005-05-09). "Dominica re-elects prime minister". Caribbean Net News.
  11. (2005-05-06). "Ruling party wins Dominica poll". [[BBC Online]].
  12. (2005-06-04). "Dominica election challenge fails". Caribbean Net News.
  13. (2005-05-11). "Dominica general election was free and fair, says elections chief". Caribbean Net News.
  14. (2005-05-09). "Opposition to challenge Dominica's poll results". [[BBC Online]].
  15. (2005-11-03). "Ruling by Dominica High Court dashes by-election hopes of United Workers Party". Caribbean Net News.
  16. (2006-04-06). "Dominica opposition drops court challenge to May 2005 poll". [[The Jamaica Observer]].
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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