Dominica Speaker defends decision

The Speaker of the Dominica Parliament Alix Boyd Knights has rejected claims that she is biased against the opposition United Workers Party (UWP).



Former prime minister Edison James, one of two opposition parliamentarians who lost their seats for missing three consecutive meetings of the House of Assembly, has accused the Speaker of waging a vendetta against the UWP.



Mr James and his party say Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit\'s government is trying to turn the island into a one-party state, and they have described the vacant seats declaration by the Speaker as part of that process.



However the Speaker said she had no choice but to take that decision based on parliamentary regulations.