At a candidate nomination rally hosted at the Alliance Française this Thursday, Jean Francois, the United Workers Party (UWP) nominee for Dominica’s Wesley Constituency, delivered a impassioned call to action for all Dominican citizens, urging collective action to protect what he described as the nation’s “blessed land.”
Centering his address on the responsibility of everyday citizens to drive national progress, Francois emphasized that a country’s greatest asset is its population. Without collective, proactive action from the public, he argued, no nation can move forward. Currently, he claimed, Dominica has stalled under the incumbent Dominican Labour Party, which he said has failed to deliver for the Dominican people. “We are stuck under this party. The Dominican Labour Party has failed us,” Francois told the gathering. “It is our responsibility as citizens to stand up. I rise not for my own sake, not for UWP’s sake, but for the sake of all Dominica. That is why every single one of us must mobilize to preserve our nation.”
Francois acknowledged that pushing for meaningful change would not be a quick or easy process, but maintained that clear priorities and aligned collective effort would yield positive results. He pointed to Dominica’s abundant natural advantages — vast fertile soil, abundant freshwater reserves, and inherent agricultural potential — to criticize the incumbent government’s neglect of the agricultural sector, calling the abandonment of core agricultural development “a shame.”
“Unless we return our focus to the soil, our country will never make meaningful progress,” Francois stressed, adding that reviving the agricultural sector is the clearest path forward for sustainable national growth. He framed it as the opposition UWP’s core responsibility to demonstrate the economic and social benefits of agriculture, particularly to younger generations of Dominicans, who will shape the nation’s future.
If given the opportunity to represent the Wesley Constituency, Francois pledged that supporting smallholder and independent farmers would be his top policy priority. “I will prioritize ensuring that farmers have all the resources and support they need to operate independently,” he said. “We want the Dominican people to be self-sufficient. We will build an enabling environment where you can work, grow your own livelihoods, and keep the earnings you deserve in your pocket.”