Leader of the Opposition (Dominica)

The Leader of the Opposition of the Commonwealth of Dominica is the Member of Parliament who leads the Official Opposition in the House of Assembly of Dominica.

The latest Leader of the Opposition is Jesma Paul, an independent candidate of the Salisbury constituency, who was sworn in on December 20 2022. She resigned on 20 June 2024.^[1]

Provision

Chapter IV Section 66 of The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Dominica states:

1. There shall be a Leader of the Opposition who shall be appointed by the President.

2. Whenever there is occasion for the appointment of a Leader of the Opposition the President shall appoint the elected member of the House who appears to him most likely to command the support of a majority of the elected members of the House who do not support the Government: or, if no elected member of the House appears to him to command such support, the elected member of the House who appears to him to command the support of the largest single group of members of the House who do not support the Government:

Provided that if a member of the House was elected at a general election in which he stood as a supporter of a political party and the majority of members of the House elected at that time (whether as Representatives or Senators) stood as supporters of that party, he shall, so long as he remains a member of the House by virtue of that election, not be eligible for appointment as Leader of the Opposition.

The House of Assembly did not have a Leader of the Opposition in early 2010, following the results of the 2009 general election. The leader of the opposition United Workers' Party, Ronald Green, lost his seat, and the three UWP Representatives elected boycotted the House of Assembly.^[2] This ended with the swearing in of Hector John as Leader of the Opposition on 19 July 2010.

Leaders of the opposition

Name	Party	Took office	Left office	Notes
Anthony Moise	DUPP	1966	1970	[3]
Anthony Moise	DFP	1970	April 1975[4]
Eugenia Charles	DFP	April 1975[4]	July 1979[4]
Vacant		1979	January 1985	[5][6]
Matthew Joseph	DDLP	January 1985	1985[7]
Michael Douglas	DLP	1985	1990	[8]
Edison James	UWP	1 June 1990	14 June 1995
Brian Alleyne	DFP	1995	1996
Rosie Douglas	DLP	1996	3 February 2000
Edison James	UWP	3 February 2000	16 July 2007
Earl Williams	UWP	16 July 2007	30 July 2008
Ronald Green	UWP	8 August 2008	3 February 2010
Hector John	UWP	19 July 2010	8 December 2014
Lennox Linton	UWP	8 December 2014	7 November 2022
Jesma Paul-Victor	Independent	20 December 2022	20 June 2024[1]
Vacant		20 June 2024[1]

References

1. "UWP President Lennox Linton disagrees with the conclusions of Prime Minister Skerrit and President Sylvanie Burton, on their refusal to appoint a Leader of the Opposition". Q95FM.
2. Commonwealth of Dominica (11 February 2010), President emphasises the importance of a Leader of the Opposition, retrieved 19 April 2010.
3. Honychurch, Lennox (1995). "The Dominica Story: A History of the Island". Macmillan.
4. Honychurch, Lennox. "Dame Mary Eugenia Charles: the first woman Prime Minister". dominicanewsonline.com/. Dominica News Online.
5. Reddock, Rhoda (1996). "Ethnic Minorities in Caribbean Society". I.S.E.R., The University of the West Indies.
6. "Bulletin of Eastern Caribbean Affairs". University of West Indies. 1981.
7. "Caribbean Insight". Goodyear Gibbs (Caribbean). 1992.
8. Honychurch, Lennox (1995). The Dominica Story: A History of the Island. Macmillan Education Ltd. ISBN 9780333627761.