House of Assembly of Dominica

The House of Assembly is the legislature of Dominica. It is established by Chapter III of the Constitution of Dominica, and together with the President of Dominica constitutes Dominica's Parliament. The House is unicameral, and consists of twenty-one Representatives, nine senators, and the Attorney General as an ex officio member. The Speaker of the House becomes the thirty-second member if chosen from outside the membership of the House.

House of Assembly of Dominica
11th Parliament
Type
Type	Unicameral
History
Founded	1978
Leadership
Speaker	Joseph Isaac[1] since 10 February 2020
Structure
Seats	32 members
Political groups	Governing party   Dominica Labour Party (19)   Government Senators (5) Opposition party   Opposition Senators (4) Independent   Independent (2) Other members   Attorney General and Speaker (ex-officio) (2)
Elections
Last election	6 December 2022
Meeting place
Roseau
Website
www.dominica.gov.dm houseofassembly.gov.dm

Representatives are directly elected in single-member constituencies using the simple-majority (or first-past-the-post) system for a term of five years. The Representatives in turn decide whether the senators are to be elected by their vote, or appointed. If appointed, five are chosen by the president with the advice of the Prime Minister and four with the advice of the Leader of the Opposition. The current Senators are appointed.

The Cabinet of Dominica is appointed from members of the House of Assembly. However, no more than three senators may be members of the Cabinet.

History

The Parliament building in Roseau

House of Assembly was established in 1968, and it was preceded by a colonial Legislative council.^[2]

Representatives

Since the election held on 6 December 2022, the Dominica Labour Party holds 19 of the 21 directly elected seats, and independent candidates hold two elected seats. The new House of Assembly included a record ten women.^[3]

Constituency	Representative	Party	Notes
Castle Bruce	DrigoOctavia Alfred	DLP
Colihaut	Daren Pinard	DLP
Cottage	Roland Royer	DLP
Grand Bay	Vince Henderson	DLP
La Plaine	Cassandra WilliamsSaint-Jean	DLP
Mahaut	Cassanni Laville	DLP
Marigot	Anthony S. Charles	IND
Morne Jaune/Riviere Cyrique	StephensonGretta Bernadette Roberts	DLP
Paix Bouche	Lakeyia Joseph	DLP
Petite Savanne	Jullan Defoe	DLP
Portsmouth	Fenella Wenham	DLP
Roseau Central	Melissa Ponponne Skerrit	DLP
Roseau North	Miriam A. Blanchard	DLP
Roseau South	Chekirah N. Lockhart	DLP
Roseau Valley	Irving Francis McIntyre	DLP
Salisbury	Jesma Paul	IND
Salybia	Cozier Frederick, Cassius	DLP
St. Joseph	Darron T. Lloyd, Kelver	DLP
Soufrière	Charles, DeniseDenise Charles	DLP	Succeeded Ian Pinard in 2016 by-election.[4]
Vieille Case	SkerritRoosevelt Skerrit	DLP	Assumed position of Prime Minister 8 January 2004.
Wesley	Fidel GrantFidel Grant	DLP

Senators

The Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition each get to appoint additional Senators, to join the elected Representatives. The following Senators are currently in office:^[5][6][7]

Senator	Party	Notes
Austelle Lockhart	DLP	Appointed with the advice of the Prime Minister.
Oscar George	DLP	Appointed with the advice of the Prime Minister.
Gregory Riviere	DLP	Appointed with the advice of the Prime Minister.
Phillip Rolle	DLP	Appointed with the advice of the Prime Minister.
Nicholas Esprit	DLP	Appointed with the advice of the Prime Minister.
Lori Victor	UWP	Appointed with the advice of the Leader of the Opposition.
Sean Douglas	UWP	Appointed with the advice of the Leader of the Opposition.
Delbert Paris	UWP	Appointed with the advice of the Leader of the Opposition.
Lorraine Henderson-Reid	UWP	Appointed with the advice of the Leader of the Opposition.

International affiliation(s)

• ACP–EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly
• Canada-CARICOM Parliamentary Friendship Group
• Commonwealth Parliamentary Association
• ParlAmericas^[8]

See also

• List of legislatures by country
• List of members of the House of Assembly of Dominica
• List of speakers of the House of Assembly of Dominica
• Leader of the Opposition (Dominica)
• History of Dominica

Notes

1. "Dominica". 5 July 2018. Archived from the original on 24 August 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
2. "Brief History - Electoral Office". electoraloffice.gov.dm.
3. "2022 General Election Results". electoraloffice.gov.dm. Retrieved 2022-12-13.
4. DLP sweeps Soufriere by-election, Dominica News Online, 7 June 2016, retrieved 30 January 2017
5. "Speaker Joseph Isaac makes grand entrance". The Sun. 2020-03-04. Retrieved 2021-09-01.
6. "Dominica: Opposition leader picks Senate delegation | Loop Caribbean News". Loop News. Retrieved 2023-10-04.
7. Baptiste, Carlisle Jn (2022-12-12). "Skerrit names 22 member Cabinet • Nature Isle News". Nature Isle News. Retrieved 2023-10-04.
8. Caribbean Group, ParlAmericas

References

• Electoral Office (21 December 2009), House of Assembly General Election 2009 - Final Count (PDF), Commonwealth of Dominica, archived from the original (PDF) on 19 July 2011, retrieved 22 April 2010.
• House of Assembly - dominica.gov, Commonwealth of Dominica, archived from the original on 23 August 2020, retrieved 22 April 2010.
• Lawrence, Alick C. (2007), The Constitution, The Government & You, Pont Casse Press, pp. 40–41, ISBN 978-0-9737347-5-1.

External links

• Official website House of Assembly

About

• Profile of the Parliament of Dominica - Secretariat of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA)
• Dominica, Dominic Electoral system
• Profile of Dominca - Inter-Parlmiamentary Union

Other

• Laws of the Commonwealth of Dominca - Government portal
• Official Gazette
• Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica - official website

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