Roosevelt Skerrit

Roosevelt Skerrit (born 8 June 1972) is a Dominican politician who has been Prime Minister of Dominica since 2004; he has also been the Member of Parliament for the Vieille Case constituency since 2000. Regionally, he has served as the chairman of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and most recently as chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in 2010.

Roosevelt Skerrit
6th Prime Minister of Dominica
Assumed office
8 January 2004
PresidentNicholas Liverpool
Eliud Williams
Charles Savarin
Preceded byPierre Charles
Member of Parliament
for Vieille Case
Assumed office
31 January 2000
Preceded byVernice Bellony
Personal details
Born (1972-06-08) 8 June 1972
Princess Margaret Hospital, Roseau, Dominica[1]
Political partyDominica Labour Party
Spouse(s)
​
(m. 2013)​
Alma materNew Mexico State University,
Las Cruces
University of Mississippi,
Oxford
WebsiteOfficial website

Prime Minister

Roosevelt Skerrit, also known as "Roozey" by some of his closest family and friends, became Prime Minister after the death of Pierre Charles in January 2004. At the time of Pierre Charles’ death, Skerrit was Member of Parliament for the Vieille Case constituency, a position he had held since his election in February 2000. In addition to being the Prime Minister, he has also served as Minister for Finance[2] since 2004, Minister of Education, Sports and Youth Affairs, and Minister for Foreign Affairs and is the political leader of the Dominica Labor Party.

Upon taking office Skerrit became the world's youngest head of government, surpassing Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. With his party's May 2005 election victory, Skerrit became the world's first democratically elected national leader born in the 1970s. As of December 2010 Skerrit remained the youngest head of government in the Western Hemisphere and the third youngest in the world, surpassed only by Madagascar's Andry Rajoelina and Montenegro's Igor Lukšić.[3][4]

Controversy

In 2015 the Chinese billionaire Ng Lap Seng was arrested by the FBI. This was due to an ongoing UN bribery investigation. Skerrit was photographed with Ng shortly before the arrest. The Wall Street Journal stated that Ng told associates that he helped persuade Dominica to switch diplomatic recognition to China from Taiwan.[5] The opposition party scrutinized Skerrit on the matter. Skerrit informed them that the FBI was not interested in him.[6]

A 2019 Al Jazeera investigation alleges that Skerrit has been receiving money in exchange for diplomatic passports and ambassadorships.[7]

Notes

Media related to Roosevelt Skerrit at Wikimedia Commons

References
  1. Dominica News Online (accessed 18 January 2011) Archived March 3, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Home - Ministry of Finance". finance.gov.dm.
  3. Who's your daddy? (accessed 24 December 2010) Archived October 24, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  4. Deputy Prime Minister > Biography (accessed 24 December 2010) Archived July 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  5. O’Keeffe, Kate (2015-10-17). "China Tycoon Back Under U.S. Scrutiny". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  6. "PM Skerrit denies association in UN bribery scandal". Dominica News Online. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  7. Al Jazeera Investigations | Diplomats for Sale, retrieved 2019-11-29
Political offices
Preceded by
Osborne Riviere
Acting		 Prime Minister of Dominica
2004–present		 Incumbent
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