In keeping with his October 12th announcement that the next general election would be held within 100 days, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has called the election for the 6th of December 2019. Photo: Dominica News Online

Parliament will be dissolved on the 6th of November. Nomination day will be Tuesday, 19th November 2019.

The announcement in itself could not have come as a shock to Dominicans given the prime minister’s previous announcement. However, the timing – at a Labour Party Got Talent event at Goodwill this evening – may have taken some by surprise.

He came on stage wearing the pair of pink shoes which he had earlier said would signal the announcement.

Skerrit’s announcement of an election date which is just over a month away, suggests that he does not intend to implement the electoral reforms which the United workers Party (UWP), the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) and other civic groups have been demanding.

At the centre of that campaign for electoral reform, which has been waging for several years, are the verification of the electors list and the introduction of a voter ID card.

The campaign has taken the form of public rallies, consultations, protests and more recently, the presentation of petitions to Gerald Burton, demanding his resignation as Chairman of the Electoral Commission for failing to implement electoral reform, and to the President of Dominica, Charles Savarin requesting that he remove Burton from office.