Ruling by Dominica High Court dashes by-election hopes of United Workers Party

Thursday,  November 3, 2005

ROSEAU, Dominica: A ruling by a High Court Judge, Justice Hugh Rawlins, has effectively killed off any lingering hopes the United Workers Party had of triggering by-elections in five constituencies in Dominica.

In the ruling dated Friday, October 28, 2005, Judge Rawlins dismissed the petitions filed against the victorious Labour Party candidates in the St. Joseph, Salybia, Mahaut, Soufriere and Castle Bruce Constituencies and the Returning Officers in the aforementioned constituencies and the Chief Elections Officer.

Following the May 5 General Election, the Dominica Labour Party won twelve seats, the United Workers Party secured eight and Independent one. The opposing UWP candidates, Ferdinand Frampton, Claudius Sandford, Curvin Ferreira, Leonard Newton and Julien Prevost filed election petitions contesting the results.

The petitioners contended, among other things, that the “electoral process was tainted because of corrupt practices of unlawful inducement, bribery and/or treating either by the winning DLP candidates or for them”. 

The petitioners also argued that the “Electoral Commission refused and/or neglected to discharge its responsibility under section 38 of the Constitution”. 

This ruling by Justice Rawlins means that Vince Henderson, Kelly Graneau, Rayburn Blackmoore, Ian Pinard and Loreen Bannis-Roberts are in fact duly elected members of Parliament. 

From the very beginning, lawyers for the Respondents argued, among other things, that the election petitions filed by the losing UWP candidates following the May 5th General Election were fishing expeditions, had no factual basis, were frivolous and vexatious and constituted an abuse of the court process.

Lawyers for the Respondents also argued that the petitions contained “vague, generalized and pejorative terms and disclosed no reasonable cause of action and/or have no prospect of success at trial”. 

At a Press Conference Tuesday, Attorney for the first respondent, Senior Counsel, Tony Astaphan was delighted with the ruling of the Judge. He said: “Ladies and Gentlemen, the effect of the judgment is that the petitions are dead. That any hope or expectation of a bye-election or general election is dead. The United Workers Party have been banking their resurrection on these cases. Well there is no resurrection in sight. There is no by-election in sight, there is no general election in sight…..”

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