Boyd Knights withdraws presidential nomination, Wallace Lafond is new nominee

Prime minister Roosevelt Skerrit in making the announcement said that Boyd Knights who is currently the Speaker of the House of Assembly had requested that she be removed from consideration because she “feared for the safety of her family.”

The announcement comes amidst a storm of public criticism over the nomination of Boyds Knight and a protest public meeting called for by the opposition United Workers Party (UWP), and which was scheduled to be held on Friday.

Scores of callers to local radio stations denounced the nomination of Boyds Knight with many pointing to her dismal record as Speaker where she presides over an increasingly fractious legislature.

Many point to her bias against the opposition as well as her intense public dislike as reasons why she should not be president. However, prime minister Skerrit had in recent days sounded his support for the embattled nominee by pointing to her “tremendous contribution to women development over the past several decades/.” He also insisted that she was among the best candidates for that position within Dominica,

Meanwhile, Skerrit has named retired public servant Jennifer Wallace Lafond to be his government’s next choice for president. Wallace Lafond was permanent secretary in the ministry of education when she retired last year. Already the opposition UWP has signaled that they are more favorably disposed to Wallace as president and it appears that they may not oppose her nomination.

“A lady who I worked with when I was minister for education, she was the senior education officer at the time and she provided tremendous leadership to the Ministry of Education. We believe that Mrs Lafond will serve the people of Dominica exceptionally in this new position,” Skerrit said.