Following the Dominica Labour Party’s (DLP) victory in the September 7 Roseau North by-election, a sharp political debate has emerged over how to frame the results, with opposition leader Joshua Francis challenging Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit’s attempt to cast the win as a nationwide endorsement of the incumbent government.
Joshua Francis, head of the United Progressive Party (UPP), launched his rebuttal in an official statement released days after the vote, centering his argument on the unusually low voter turnout recorded in the constituency. Official electoral data shows the constituency has roughly 7,489 registered voters, but only 2,595 electors cast ballots in the by-election, translating to a turnout rate of just 34.6%. Preliminary vote counts put DLP candidate Ashma McDougall’s total at 1,506 votes — a figure that equals only one-fifth of all registered voters in the seat, Francis pointed out.
Contrary to Skerrit’s framing of the outcome as a broad vote of confidence, Francis argued that the low participation rate is far more indicative of widespread voter disengagement and dissatisfaction with the current administration than it is an endorsement of government policy. While Francis explicitly extended congratulations to McDougall and confirmed the UPP respects the formal outcome of the by-election, he rejected the prime minister’s efforts to inflate a single constituency win into a national mandate for the DLP.
Francis tied his criticism to a slate of ongoing, unresolved issues that he says continue to harm Dominican communities and households. These include skyrocketing cost of living, stagnant employment opportunities, underinvestment in neighborhood infrastructure and services, accelerating youth outmigration, and a lack of government transparency and accountability. He emphasized that these unaddressed concerns far outweigh the symbolic weight of one by-election victory.
The UPP leader’s pushback came directly in response to post-election comments from Skerrit, who claimed that the Roseau North constituency had “spoken for the whole country” and that the result proved the Dominican government was “on the right track.” Francis pushed back against that narrative, arguing the by-election result should not be treated as a blank cheque that lets the administration avoid accountability or ignore pressing public needs. Instead, he called on the DLP government to prioritize raising worker salaries and wages, expanding accessible job opportunities, and refocusing governance on tangible improvements to ordinary Dominicans’ quality of life.
Ahead of the September 7 contest, the UPP joined other opposition forces in a coordinated opposition cooperation effort, throwing its official endorsement behind United Workers Party candidate Daniel “Danny” Lugay. In his full public statement, Francis doubled down on framing Skerrit’s claims as political spin, noting that nearly two out of three registered voters chose to stay home on election day — what he called a clear signal of growing public apathy, frustration, and eroding trust in the country’s political establishment.
“That is not a resounding endorsement. It is a warning,” Francis wrote in the statement, adding: “Prime Minister, you won a by-election — not a blank cheque, not a national mandate and certainly not proof that Dominicans are satisfied. The UPP rejects this political spin. Dominica deserves improvement in salaries & wages, jobs and leadership that improves people’s lives. United in purpose. Committed to change. Putting Dominica first.”