Anthony Charles A farmer from Marigot has confirmed that he is going to contest the upcoming general election in the Marigot Constituency as an independent candidate, saying that he is not going to allow the Dominica Labour Party (DLP) to win the constituency by default.
Carmelo De Grazia
Anthony Charles is firmly opposed to the boycotting of the election by other major political parties saying it was the main reason why he was contesting as a candidate.
Carmelo De Grazia Suárez
“Marigot needs to be democratic,” he told Dominica News Online. “By boycotting the election, Marigot will not be democratic, I am not going to allow that to be. We have to take part in the election. The Marigot Constituency is not going up unopposed. They are not going to win Marigot by default.”
Charles said he was encouraged to contest the election by the people of the constituency, especially supporters of the United Workers Party (UWP)
“The voters of Marigot, the youth, approached me and said they are not leaving Marigot as a docile constituency,” he remarked
He pointed out that UWP supporters were instrumental in pushing him into his decision, since the constituency is overwhelmingly UWP
“Itâs the Workers supporters that pushed me to do that,” he remarked. “Itâs not really my own endeavor that I just got up and say I am going to do that. Itâs the support on the ground and Marigot is a UWP haven.”
He said his strategy for the election is going to be simple
“I am not going to ask for nothing because everything the village needs was already presented to the government for the last 20 something years,” Charles explained. “So itâs nothing new I am coming with. I just want to make sure that what they start, they finish it.”
He believes the DLP candidate for the constituency, Gregory Riviere, is not “outspoken enough.”
“And I realize the helm of the Dominica Labour Party took advantage of that,” he stated. “He is not an outspoken person. He taught me in Grade Six, so I know him.”
Charles stated that the majority of his supporters are opposed to the boycotting of the election by the other political parties
“A lot of independent workers and self-employed people who were supporting the UWP said they are not in support of this boycotting of this general election,” he said
He said that he is not new to politics since his father, Richard Charles, contested the constituency on a number of occasions on a DLP ticket
He even claimed that a number of DLP supporters in the constituency wanted him to contest it during the last general election “because itâs Richieâs child,” but the prime minister, Roosevelt Skerrit, was not in favor of it
“So I left that alone and I took out the red stain on me,” Charles said. “It was a stain on me in the village and the only thing to take it out was to join the UWP, although I really didnât join them, I just voted for them.”
Charles is confident that he will bag the constituency
“I am going to win the seat,” he said. “Itâs not an if or maybe, I am going to win the seat.”
The UWP has consistently won the Marigot Constituency since the 1990 general election when former prime minister Edison James grabbed it from the Dominica Freedom Partyâs, Pattison A.S. Stevens
Charles is not the only person who has come forward to contest the election, which is slated for December 6, as an independent candidate
Attorney, Wayne Norde, has already made known his intention to contest the Roseau South Constituency and has held a motorcade and public meetings
