Many Dominicans will remember the Mamo Declaration of 1999/2000. The Late Dame then said that “the UWP should be removed at any cost†at the 2000 general election.
The machinations put in place resulted in the Dominica Labour Party and the Dominica Freedom Party forming a coalition as joint forces against the United Workers Party. The governance of the UWP was short-lived, and they were out on January 31st 2000!
It is generally agreed therefore that former DFP supporters and independent voters formed a significant portion for the total number of votes for the DLP in 2000 and 2005.
For a historical background let us go back to 1980. When the DFP won in 1980, there was no other direction Dominica could have gone but up! The country had suffered years of loss, its economy in dismay after the ravages of Hurricane David in 1979. Also, there was political turmoil that had to be overcome. The DFP rode highly at an opportune time in this small island state’s history.
In 1995, there was the culmination of another cyclical downturn in the political and economic life of the country and the UWP took charge. In 1980 it was natural and man-made disaster. In 1995 it was economic and to a lesser extent political. In 2000 it was evidently political. It was a kind of neo-colonial philosophy manifesting itself then. It seemed that the few who owned most in the country wanted to have their say, and they did through their financial contributions. But they still could not do it on their own.
The defunct DFP that had died in 1995 became forceful again, not from the front but from the back, not pulling but pushing. The DLP could not win the general election on its own. The term coalition became commonplace, likewise the expression marriage of convenience.
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