OECS Chairman appeals for calm after police and protestors clash in Dominica

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In the wake of a protest to demand electoral reform which left Dominica’s capital city in turmoil on Monday night, the Chairman of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), Prime Minister Gaston Browne, has called for calm in the Windward Island nation — also referred to as the Nature Isle — and for adherence to the rule of law and constitutionality.

The call preceded the action taken by more than 200 protestors who, since last Friday, had camped out on Victoria Street in Roseau, near State House, where the President His Excellency Charles Savarin resides.

 For four days, the protestors remained resolute as they demanded an audience with President Savarin to address their call to implement electoral reform ahead of the December 6th elections since Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit dissolved Parliament a few weeks ago.

The country’s Assistant Commissioner of Police, Richmond Valentine, confirmed that the protestors clashed with the police when they tried to march to President Savarin’s home.

During the confrontation, the police fired teargas and rubber bullets, and used batons to disperse the crowd after the protestors removed street barricades and committed acts of vandalism within the city.

However, there were no reports of fatalities or major injuries although one man, was grazed by a rubber bullet.

In a press release issued yesterday, Browne “noted that an end to violence and other disruptive activities are essential to ensuring that general elections in Dominica are conducted in an atmosphere free of fear.”

Read more in today’s newspaper

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