Dominicans on Friday, December 6, 2019, cast ballots for a new Parliament and even before then, early returns indicated that the DLP would walk away undefeated.

Landslide Victory

Held under heightened security, residents cast their ballots amidst protests and street unrest in addition to legal challenges seeking electoral reform from the main opposition party.

The pro­test­ers have been de­mand­ing elec­toral re­forms ahead of the polls, including a clean-up of the voters' list, the issuing of voter ID cards and blocking Dominicans living abroad from voting.

Earlier this week, efforts by the UWP to have the elec­tions de­layed un­til Feb­ru­ary 5, 2020 were thrown out by the court and local media further reported that armed forces where brought in from neighbouring islands to maintain the peace in the country of about 75,000 people.

Day of Peace Designated

As part of the Landslide victory for the DLP, the opposition United Workers’ Party lost three of its previous six seats, one of those was won by Melissa Skerrit, the Prime Minister’s wife.

In an address to the nation on Friday night, PM Skerrit said the country needs to heal following the heated election campaign which saw protests across the country.

Calling for a more responsible Opposition he said, "The elections are over. The UWP failed to delay or stop elections through legal means. They failed to provoke our security services, they failed in getting the country to take up the call for widespread violence and unrest and they have failed at the ballot box."

PM Skerette has since declared Sunday, December 8, 2019, as a Day of Peace for the nation.