ROSEAU, Dominica, Oct 2, CMC – Charles Angelo Savarin was Tuesday sworn-in as President for a second five-year term, a day after being re-elected amid strong objections from opposition legislators.
The Oath of Office was administered by Justice Birnie Stephenson, Senior Resident Judge, designated by Dame Janice M. Pereira, Chief Justice of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.
Savarin said the support he had received in his first term, which began in 2013, had been again demonstrated when he was re-elected Head of State during Monday’s sitting of Parliament.
office on Tuesday.
He had received the support of all 20 Government Members of Parliament in an election that was preceded by United Workers Party (UWP) legislators staging a walkout before the vote was taken. Opposition Leader Lennox Linton had argued that the election was unconstitutional, as it was taking place during the 14-day period designation for nomination of candidates.
Linton called for the Parliament to be adjourned to Friday, but Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said he had been given an opportunity to submit a nominee for the post, but had not done so within the timeframe promised.
At his swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday, Savarin said he remained “true and loyal” to the commitment to carry out his duty without malice or ill will towards anyone, without fear of intimidation and with respect for the traditions, laws and Constitution of Dominica.
He added that he looked forward “with great optimism, to further discharging the functions of the office of President with dignity and dedication, impartiality, objectivity, fairness and consideration for all in accordance with provisions of the constitution”.
He also used the opportunity to encourage Dominicans to work together for the benefit, reconstruction and further development of the country which had been hard hit by Hurricane Maria in September last year.
The President said the country had come a long way since then, but there was still a lot of work to be done to build back better and stronger, and achieve the goal of making Dominica the first climate resilient country in the world.
“To succeed at this task, however, we need to embrace each other as fellow Dominicans. We have to set aside our differences, whether they are religious or political, whether we live at home, here in Dominica, or abroad in the Diaspora, whether we support the government or are opposed to it,” he said.
