Second Term Coming Up

It's déjà vu for His Excellency President Charles Angelo Savarin who is unsurprisingly expected to be nominated by the ruling Roosevelt Skerrit administration for a second term as Dominica's head of state.

And not unexpectedly, the Opposition United Workers Party (UWP) will not support Savarin's nomination for a second term as the UWP did for his first term almost five years ago. Savarin's first term expires in October 2018.

"We did not support him for the post of President of Dominica in 2013 and our views on the matter remain the same…we will not support him if he is the government's nominee for the post of President," Opposition Leader Lennox Linton said last week.

According to the Constitution of Dominica, Prime Minister Skerrit must write to consult with Opposition Leader Lennox Linton about the nomination of a joint candidate for the post of President 90 days before the current president's term expires. That date should be in two weeks, about 4th July 2018.

Severin was sworn in for a five-year term as Dominica's President on 2rd October and according to a Dominica Labour Party (DLP) source, the Government is satisfied that President Savarin has performed his duties satisfactorily.

"He will be offered a second term. That is a done deal, so Linton and his UWP can brace themselves for that," said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "He is a loyal solider to the Comrade (referring to Prime Minister Skerrit) and has done a fairly good job, so he will be justly rewarded with a second term as President of Dominica."

There may be no protest this time around when Savarin is being nominated but in 2013 the opposition was bitter.

"This will not stand, this will not be allowed to stand in Dominica," declared Linton on the Q95 talk show hosted by Matt Peltier on Thursday September 26, 2013.

Linton, who vowed to "stand up against that decision", stated further that, "Mr. Savarin has demonstrated over the years that he is so un-curably and party partisan that he simply cannot fit the bill of being an independent, objective, impartial holder of the office of President."

Additionally, Pastor Randy Rodney said then that the decision was "malicious".

"The nomination reflects the quality of the leadership we are having. Coming straight from the 'crass politics' that Charles Savarin has been involved in to have him resign as a government minister and immediately to the post of President is wrong and bad," Rodney stated.

Savarin, he said, is "partisan, divisive and he has even attacked people in business places because he is so party partisan and divisive, he does not fit the post of President." "I am disappointed that the DLP cannot find someone who is sympathetic to the party and command the respect of all Dominicans," he said.

Savarin, a government-appointed senator, and former political leader of the Dominica Freedom Party, resigned as Minister of Labour and National Security on September 24, 2013 to take up the post of President of Dominica after it was discovered that the Government's second nominee, Jennifer Wallace-Lafond, was the holder of a United States of America passport and was therefore was disqualified from holding the post.

Earlier Government had pulled out its first nominee, current Speaker Alix Boyd- Knights, after a public uproar.

General Secretary of the Dominica Public Service Union (DPSU) Thomas Letang said in 2013 that he was also against the Savarin nomination.

"For the good of the country, I believe whoever is selected as president should be one that is acceptable by all individuals from all political spectrums and sides and one who will unite our country," Letang said. "I had no problems that Mr. Eluid Williams should have continued as president and he should have been made to continue".