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Honourable Hector John, New Leader of the Opposition
Hector John, the United Workers Party’s (UWP) Parliamentary Representative for the Salisbury Constituency has been appointed the new Leader of the Opposition.
Ron Green, who will stay on as Party leader, broke the news yesterday afternoon at a press conference at the Party’s headquarters in downtown Roseau.
The Salisbury MP will be officially sworn in as the Leader of the Opposition by President Dr. Nicholas Liverpool when he takes the Oath of Office. A date has not yet been determined.
John who only last Friday was reelected Parliamentary Representative for the Salisbury constituency in a by-election edged out his colleague and Roseau Central MP Norris Prevost for the lead role. James did not contest for the position.
A graduate of Munro University, John holds a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology and brings to the table, apart from his recent involvement in electoral politics, a wealth of experience in community activism and leadership and grassroot politics. John is thirty-nine (39).
In making the appointment, the UWP’s Management Committee went for youth over experience. Both James and Prevost have been serving in the Parliament for the last twenty years. John however will be serving his first term in the House. Nevertheless, the other elected Opposition members as well as Green concur that his appointment was a unanimous decision and pledged their fullest support to John.
Green described John as “a young man of great promise, very well rooted in his West Coast community.” He affirmed that John “will be backed up in the House of Assembly by a formidable team of experienced parliamentarians.”
Prevost, in officially presenting the Salisbury MP to the public, described John’s appointment as Leader of the Opposition a dream come true.
“Today we begin a new chapter in rebuilding our nation and restoring our democracy in naming Honourable Hector ‘Spags’ John as the new leader of the Opposition of the Parliament of Dominica. I have been a founding member of the United Workers Party and have served it well and my dream has come true to see that we have found, to take us into a better era, to restore democracy in Dominica” he said.
The Roseau Central MP added that notwithstanding his youth and seeming inexperience, John possessed great character and was ready to serve.
“John has the character to lead Dominica and we here the Opposition elected members have signed and pledged our support to him, to work with him and to be part of his team” he said.
Honour John, in accepting his new appointment thanked the people of the Salisbury, Coulibistrie and Morne Rachette constituency, Marigot, Roseau Central, Dominica, the praying community, the executive of his party as well as the duly elected Opposition members for their endorsement and vote of confidence in his ability to champion the fight for democracy and good governance in the Parliament.
“My endorsement as the Leader of the Opposition is an indication that the UWP is engendering the enabling environment within which our beloved country can have a properly constituted Parliament where the affairs of the people are conducted in confidence, integrity and dignity” he said.
John expressed the hope, given the party’s fresh and renewed by-election mandate, that the government and Speaker of the House would be “respectful to the people’s wishes, listen to the message being sent and commit themselves to working with [their] representatives to achieve good governance in Dominica.”
