Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit Monday night announced a 13-member Cabinet, less than a week after his ruling Dominica Labour Party (DLP) comfortably won the general election that was boycotted by the major opposition parties.
The new Cabinet, which was sworn in on Tuesday, includes nine former government ministers, former National Security Minister, Rayburn Blackmoore, who did not contest the election and Melissa Skerrit, the wife of the prime minister, who will be the Minister for Housing and Urban Development.
Skerrit had called the December 6 poll, two years ahead of the constitutional deadline, saying it was important for there to be a re-set of the country’s socio-economic policies, while the opposition United Workers Party (UWP) and the Dominica Freedom Party (DFP) urged supporters to stay away from the polls in protest against the lack of electoral reform.
The DLP won the election by a 19-2 margin with the two independents winning in traditional opposition stronghold constituencies of Salisbury and Marigot.
Skerrit in a broadcast on state-owned DBS radio, said he was pleased that the preliminary reports of the several international observer teams and missions, had “given a resounding nod of approval to the open and transparent manner in which these elections were conducted, and the overarching conclusion that the will of the people of Dominica was manifested and determined, fairly”.
He insisted that the election was called to “trigger a national reset” adding “these are not just empty words or a new catch phrase that sounds good when we say it.
The full list of the Cabinet is:
Roosevelt Skerrit – Prime Minister and Minister for Investment and Governance
Dr. Irving McIntyre – Minister for Finance, Economic Development, Climate Resilience and Social Security
Dr. Vince Henderson -Senior Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, International Business, Trade and Energy
Senator Rayburn Blackmore -Minister for National Security and Legal Affairs
Cassani Laville – Minister for Health, Wellness and Social Services
Melissa Skerrit – Minister for Housing and Urban Development
Roland Royer – Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, Blue and Green Economy
Denise Charles – Minister for Tourism
Fidel Grant – Minister for Public Works, Public Utilities and Digital Economy
Miriam Blanchard – Minister for Labour, Public Service Reform, Social Partnership, Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development
Gretta Roberts – Minister for Culture, Youth, Sports, and Community Development
Cozier Frederick – Minister for the Environment, Rural Modernisation, Kalinago Upliftment and Constituency Empowerment
Octavia Alfred – Minister for Education, Human Resource Planning, Vocational Training and National Excellence
CMC/
