Dominica’s government is constructed around a parliamentary style representation (similar to England’s) whereby a Prime Minister is the head of government, and its multi-party system. Executive power is implemented by the government. Legislative power is conducted by both the government and the House of Assembly. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

 

The executive branch is made up of a president, Dr. Nicholas Joseph Orville Liverpool,  and prime minister Roosevelt Skerrit, (re-elected in December, 2009). The president is elected for a 5-year term by the parliament, nominated by the prime minister in consultation with the leader of the opposition party. The president then appoints as prime minister the leader of the majority party in the parliament. He also appoints via recommendation by the prime minister, members of the parliament from the ruling party as cabinet ministers. The prime minister and cabinet are responsible to the parliament; they can be removed by a vote of no-confidence.

 

The House of Assembly has 32 members. 21 of those members are elected for a five year terms. Nine senate members are appointed by the President… five on the advice of the Prime Minister and four on the advice of the leader of the opposition. Elections for representatives and senators must be held at least every 5 years, although the prime minister can call elections any time.

 

Dominica’s political system is a multi-party system.  The two dominant political parties are identified as Labor Party & Worker Party.  A third, party is identified as the Freedom Party. 

 

The Dominica Labor Party is social-democratic in nature. It was founded in 1951 by Phyllis Shand Allfrey; it is the oldest political party in Dominica.

 

The United Workers' Party is a centrist political party nature. The party was founded in 1988 by Edison James, Julius Timothy, Norris Prevost, Dennis Labassier and others. As of the 2009 general election, it is the only opposition party represented in the House of Assembly of Dominica, holding three of the twenty-one seats. (Though 2 of the seats are being replaced by a special election as their representatives, in protest of recent election results, boycotted their seating in parliament for three sessions.)

 

The Dominica Freedom Party is a conservative political in nature. The DFP was led by Dame Eugenia Charles from 1972 until 1995. She became Prime Minister in 1980 and served until her 1995 retirement. The party lost all of its seats in the House of Assembly general election, May 2005. This was the first time since 1975 that the DFP was not elected in any seats.