Roosevelt Skerrit

Career

Roosevelt Skerrit, also known as "Roozey" by some of his closest family and friends, became prime minister after the death of Pierre Charles in January 2004. At the time of Pierre Charles’ death, Skerrit was Member of Parliament for the Vieille Case constituency, a position he had held since his election in February 2000. In addition to being the Prime Minister, he has also served as Minister for Finance since 2004, Minister of Education, Sports and Youth Affairs, and Minister for Foreign Affairs and is the political leader of the Dominica Labor Party.

In 2015, the Chinese billionaire Ng Lap Seng was arrested by the FBI. This was due to an ongoing UN bribery investigation. Skerrit was photographed with Ng shortly before the arrest. The Wall Street Journal stated that Ng told associates that he helped persuade Dominica to switch diplomatic recognition to China from Taiwan. The opposition party scrutinized Skerrit on the matter. Skerrit informed them that the FBI was not interested in him.

A 2019, an Al Jazeera investigation alleged that Skerrit had been receiving money in exchange for diplomatic passports and ambassadorships.

In December 2019, Skerrit won his fourth consecutive general election eighteen seats to three, becoming the first Dominica Prime Minister ever to do so.

On 1 July 2023. Prime Minister Dr Roosevelt Skerrit assumed the chairmanship of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). He also chaired the meeting of the countries under the CARICOM and asked for the innovative ways to strengthen the region.

After the October 7 attacks in 2023, Skerrit called for a ceasefire in the Gaza war.

In November 2024, several election reform bills were introduced by the Dominica Labour Party in the House of Assembly, aiming to establish an independent electoral commission, update procedures for voting and counting votes, and streamline the voter registration process. However, critics, including the main opposition party, the United Workers Party, claim that these bills were passed without proper consultation from the Dominican people, leading to perceptions that the bills would essentially entrench the DLP's power. This, in turn, led to protests outside the Dominica Parliament. When these bills were passed in March 2025, more violent demonstrations soon flared up across the country, leading to the arrests of 24 people. In April 2025, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) expressed concern about the electoral reform process, claiming that the bills passed in the House lack IACHR provisions such as regulations concerning campaign financing and safeguards to ensure the electoral commission's independence.

In January 2026, Skerrt's government reached an agreement with the United States to accept migrants deported from the latter country.

References

References

1. "ROTATION SCHEDULE FOR THE CHAIRMANSHIP OF THE CONFERENCE 1 JANUARY 2018 TO 30 JUNE 2025".
2. [http://dominicanewsonline.com/dno/breaking-news-roosevelt-skerrit-no-longer-french/ Dominica News Online] (accessed 18 January 2011) {{webarchive. link. (March 3, 2011)
3. "Home - Ministry of Finance".
4. [https://www.economist.com/news/2009/06/03/whos-your-daddy Who's your daddy?] (accessed 24 December 2010) [https://www.economist.com/news/2009/06/03/whos-your-daddy]
5. [http://www.mes.gov.me/en/depprminister/biography Deputy Prime Minister > Biography] (accessed 24 December 2010) {{webarchive. link. (July 22, 2011)
6. O’Keeffe, Kate. (2015-10-17). "China Tycoon Back Under U.S. Scrutiny". Wall Street Journal.
7. "PM Skerrit denies association in UN bribery scandal". Dominica News Online.
8. "Al Jazeera Investigations {{!}} Diplomats for Sale".
9. Sorhaindo, Rupert. (10 December 2019). "Reflections on Dominica 2019 general election results". Caribbean News Global.
10. (2023-08-11). "CARICOM Chairman Roosevelt Skerrit engages with COP28 President-Designate, calls for urgent climate action".
11. Byron, Anglina. (2023-05-26). "Dominica: PM Roosevelt Skerrit chairs CARICOM council meeting with Labour Ministers".
12. (2023-07-04). "PM Roosevelt Skerrit pledges to support Haiti as CARICOM Chairman".
13. (10 October 2023). "Caribbean nations push for ceasefire in Israel-Hamas conflict". WriteUps24.
14. https://natureisle.news/protest/protesters-outside-dominicas-parliament/
15. https://www.stvincenttimes.com/dominica-protests-over-electoral-reform-bills/
16. https://www.oas.org/en/IACHR/jsForm/?File=/en/iachr/media_center/PReleases/2025/074.asp
17. (5 January 2026). "Tiny Caribbean islands reach deal with US government to accept asylum-seekers". [[AP News]].