Prime Minister Honourable Roosevelt Skerrit was officially sworn in as the country’s Head of Government during a ceremony on Saturday at the State House.
The swearing in of the Honourable Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit comes just one day after the Labour Party secured a resounding victory against the United Workers Party at the December 6th General Elections.
“My dear people, the elections are over. They were as the Dominica Labour Party always promised free and fair. The national general elections were conducted under the laws that have governed elections in this country in the forty one years since independence. The people of the Commonwealth of Dominica have spoken and I want to thank them for giving the Dominica Labour Party a resounding victory and returning us to office for another term as the next Government. I want to thank you for giving me the honor and privilege to serve you as Prime Minister and for electing the Dominica Labour Party as your Government,” the Prime Minister stated.
The Dominica Labour Party secured victory in eighteen of the twenty one seats that were contested including Vielle Case, Colihaut, Roseau South, Cottage, Castle Bruce, Salybia, Roseau Central, Roseau Valley, Wesley, Paix Bouche, Portsmouth, Grand Bay, Soufriere, Petite Savanne, St. Joseph, Mahaut, La Plaine and Grand Fond.
The Opposition, United Workers Party, won three seats namely Marigot, Salisbury and Roseau North.
Prime Minister, Honourable Skerrit addressed the nation Friday evening confirming that the priority of the new DLP government will be to restore the country’s reputation, which was negatively impacted following opposition led protest action during the election campaign.
“There is no doubt that there are now social rifts, economic damage, and reputational concerns which have to be addressed as a matter of urgency. This will be the first order of business of the new Labour Party Government. In that regard, I will shortly be naming by cabinet, so that we can immediately set out rebuilding from the reputational damage and repairing the hurt of the last few weeks. I also look forward to inviting Mr. Linton to early discussions as we all seek to unite the nation,” he stated.
The Honourable Prime Minister who is also leader of the DLP, said that he I vindicated by last Friday’s victory.
“It’s a vindication of all the persecution and attacks, character assassination and all of the involvement of a number of external actors in our elections. I think this is the ultimate vindication in politics, and I think the voters of Dominica recognized that and this is why we have had such a massive victory. This is not a close victory at all, it is a massive victory,” the Prime Minister noted.