ROSEAU, Dominica, Thursday November 7, 2019 – Dominicans will go to the polls to elect a new government next month – three months earlier than the March 2020 constitutionally due date.

After weeks of speculation, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit announced Tuesday night at a rally of the governing Dominica Labour Party (DLP) that December 6^th will be Election Day and Nomination Day will be just under two weeks from now, on November 19^th.

He said he had advised President Charles Savarin to dissolve Parliament yesterday.

And Skerrit, who is seeking an unprecedented fourth consecutive term in office, urged citizens to make sure they cast their ballots when the opportunity comes next month.

“It matters whether you vote or not on Election Day. It matters which party wins or not. It matters which party leads the country in the third decade of the 21^st century. You each have a responsibility to get out there and vote,” he said.

“Five years is a short time if you have the right person in government; five years is a very, very long time if you have the wrong person.”

In the last elections in 2014, the DLP won 15 of the 21 seats, while the United Workers’ Party (UWP), led by the Lennox Linton, won six – twice what it won the election prior.

The DLP’s 2014 election victory was its fourth consecutive win at the polls, and the third straight one under Skerrit’s leadership of the party.