Let’s speak plainly. For over two decades, Dominica has been run not just by one party, but by one political style, control, spin, and survival over vision, planning, and delivery. The United Workers’ Party’s eighth platform point, a full rejection of mismanagement, corruption, and political victimization, is a necessary wake-up call.
Ask any Dominican who has applied for land, a job, or a contract without flying a red flag, and they’ll tell you: merit means less than allegiance. The Dominica Labour Party has created a system where loyalty is rewarded, not competence. This isn’t democracy, it’s patronage with a red shirt.
Dominicans have grown up hearing phrases like “jobs for the boys,” “you have to talk to so-and-so,” and “we can see what we can do, if.” These aren’t harmless sayings. They’re signs of a system that no longer serves the country, only the party. That is what UWP is vowing to dismantle.
And let’s talk about corruption. Not the vague kind whispered on talk shows, but the real type that leaves no paper trail, just unexplained wealth, insider deals, and budget numbers that never match the broken schools and crumbling roads. Every time a contract goes to the same handful of connected names, it tells the rest of us: “This country isn’t for you.”
Political victimization has become so normalized that half the country sees basic public services as privileges to be earned through political loyalty. Farmers don’t just ask for fertilizer, they ask if it’s “Labour fertilizer” or not. Communities wonder if their road will only be fixed after the next election. How did we get here?
The UWP is promising to break this toxic cycle, to govern not for party supporters, but for the country. To make public service exactly that: a service to the public, not a reward system for campaign foot soldiers. If that sounds radical to you, it’s only because we’ve been living in dysfunction so long we’ve forgotten what normal looks like.
Dominica doesn’t need more gimmicks, handouts, or photo ops. It needs institutions that work, a government that serves all, and leaders who don’t fear transparency. The UWP isn’t perfect, but its refusal to pretend this decay is acceptable is reason enough to take their message seriously.
We’ve wasted enough time surviving on partisan scraps. It’s time for a real government, for all Dominicans, not just the ones wearing red.
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