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The Epic Interactive Encyclopedia 1998
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Epic Interactive Encyclopedia, The - 1998 Edition (1998)(Epic Marketing).iso
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Dominica
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Island in the West Indies, between Guadeloupe
and Martinique, the largest of the Windward
Islands, with the Atlantic to the E and the
Caribbean to the W. government Dominica is an
independent republic within the Commonwealth.
The constitution dates from independence in
1978, and provides for a single-chamber,
30-member, house of assembly. 21 are
representatives elected by universal
suffrage, and 9 are appointed senators, 5 on
the advice of the prime minister and 4 on the
advice of the leader of the opposition. The
assembly serves a five-year term, as does the
president, who is elected by it and acts as
constitutional head of state, appointing the
prime minister on the basis of assembly
support. The prime minister chooses the
cabinet and all are responsible to the
assembly. The two main political parties are
the Dominica Freedom Party (DFP) and the
Labour Party of Dominica. history Dominica
was named by Christopher Columbus, who
visited it in 1493. It became a British
possession in the 18th century, and was part
of the Leeward Islands federation until 1939.
In 1940 it was transferred to the Windward
Islands and remained attached to that group
until 1960, when it was given separate
status, with a chief minister and legislative
council. In 1961 the leader of the Dominica
Labour Party (DLP), Edward leBlanc, became
chief minister and after 13 years in office,
retired and was succeeded as prime minister
by Patrick John. The DLP held office until
full independence was achieved in 1978 and
its leader, John, became the first prime
minister under the new constitution.
Opposition to John's increasingly
authoritarian style of government soon
developed and in the 1980 elections the DFP
won a convincing victory on a free enterprise
policy programme. Its leader, Eugenia
Charles, became the Caribbean's first woman
prime minister. In 1981 John was thought to
be implicated in a plot against the
government and a state of emergency was
imposed. The next year he was tried and
acquitted. He was retried in 1985, found
guilty and given a 12-year prison sentence.
Left-of-centre parties regrouped, making the
Labour Party of Dominica (LPD) the main
opposition to the DFP. In the 1985 elections
Eugenia Charles was re-elected. Under her
leadership, Dominica has developed links with
France and the USA and in 1983 sent a small
force to the US-backed invasion of Grenada.