Edison Chenfil James (born October 18, 1943, in
Marigot) is a Dominican politician who was the
prime minister of Dominica
The prime minister of Dominica is the head of government in the Commonwealth of Dominica. Nominally, the position was created on November 3, 1978 when Dominica gained independence from the United Kingdom. Hitherto, the position existed de facto ...
from June 14, 1995, to February 3, 2000, as well as the
member of parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
for the Marigot constituency from 1990. He graduated from the
Dominica Grammar School
The Dominica Grammar School (DGS) is a public co-education secondary school in Roseau, Dominica, established in 1893, one of the oldest educational institutions on the island. Contrary to its name, the school no longer functions as a tradition ...
. He has a
BSc
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...
degree in botany from the
University of East London
, mottoeng = Knowledge and the fulfilment of vows
, established = 1898 – West Ham Technical Institute1952 – West Ham College of Technology1970 – North East London Polytechnic1989 – Polytechnic of East London ...
, a
MSc degree in biochemistry from the
University of Reading
The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...
and a
post graduate diploma
A postgraduate diploma (PgD, PgDip, PGDip, PG Dip., PGD, Dipl. PG, PDE) is a postgraduate qualification awarded after a university degree, which supplements the original degree and awards them with a graduate diploma. Countries that award postg ...
in crop protection technology from
Imperial College
Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...
. He worked in a number of local and regional institutions including the
Caribbean Development Bank
The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) is a financial institution that helps Caribbean nations finance social and economic programs in its member countries. CDB was established by an Agreement signed on October 18, 1969, in Kingston, Jamaica, and ent ...
, but it was as manager of the Dominica Banana Marketing Company that he rose to prominence on the island. He was instrumental in resuscitating the island's critical banana industry which had been decimated by
Hurricane David
Hurricane David was an extremely deadly hurricane which caused massive loss of life in the Dominican Republic in August 1979, and was the most intense hurricane to make landfall in the country in recorded history. A Cape Verde hurricane that rea ...
. James has been active in regional cricket as an administrator and was the manager of the
Windward Islands cricket team
The Windward Islands cricket team is a cricket team representing the member countries of the Windward Islands Cricket Board of Control. The team plays in the West Indies Professional Cricket League (including the NAGICO Regional Super50) under ...
and the
Combined Islands cricket team
The Combined Islands cricket team was a cricket team that represented the cricket-playing islands of the Lesser Antilles, excluding Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago who fielded their own teams. They played in 13 Shell Shield tournaments from 1965- ...
. He is a member of the
Rotary Club
Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, profe ...
.
Career
1988–1999
In 1988, he headed a committee which founded the
United Workers' Party and became its first political leader. From its inception, the party was assailed as a group of "disgruntled businessmen" or "greedy businessmen" as described by the established parties but, in 1990, the party won six seats in the 21 seat
House of Assembly
House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level.
Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible governme ...
and James became the
Leader of the Opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
. As leader of the opposition, he criticized the ruling
Dominica Freedom Party
The Dominica Freedom Party (DFP) is a conservative political party in Dominica. It shares much of the same socially and economically conservative principles as the Conservative Party in the UK. The party has been led by Bernard Hurtault since 2 ...
for instituting an economic-citizen programme whereby persons could become citizens of the island for a fee. In the run-up to the 1995 elections, James accused the
Eugenia Charles-led government of bugging his party's offices. A commission formed to investigate the matter concluded that the allegations were baseless.
In the June 12, 1995, elections he led the party to victory with 11 out of 21 seats with fewer votes than the incumbent Freedom Party and became
prime minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
. By then, the banana industry was no longer vibrant and so the James-led government embarked on an ambitious program of economic diversification. It passed legislation allowing the creation of off-shore business. In addition, it sought to allow an Australian mining company to conduct exploratory drilling on the island but that move was subsequently abandoned due to criticisms that it would sully the island's reputation as "The Nature Isle". When the UWP government divested its shares in the island's only power company, the move was met with vociferous condemnation by the opposition. The opposition was also aroused to indignation by the government's decision to offer asylum to the Saudi dissident
Mohammad al-Massari
Mohammad al-Mass'ari ( ar, محمد المسعري) is an exiled Saudi physicist and political dissident who gained asylum in the United Kingdom in 1994. He runs the Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights (CDLR) and is an adviser to the ...
, a decision which James later admitted was based on a hope of increased British aid. The government was also pilloried for the economic citizenship program which it had re-engineered and enlarged when it came into office; some thought that the island could become a haven for criminal elements. This criticism was fuelled by the revelation that the Australian fugitive
Christopher Skase had used the programme to become a citizen of the island. Trying to increase the number of stay-over visitors to the island, the UWP government sought to build an international airport, but this was again met with a cacophony of criticism as some thought that the country would not be able to pay back the debt which would have had to be contracted. The government purchased the requisite lands for the airport but did not have time to physically begin the project. The James-led government was dogged by charges of corruption and these allegations only increased as its term progressed.
James' government did produce some significant achievements. There was a proliferation in the number of scholarships available for secondary and college education. There was some success in diversifying the island's monocrop agricultural sector away from bananas and towards other crops. It also increased public spending on capital projects including roads, schools and sea walls. These projects had a visible impact on the economy and the economy grew every year under his leadership. This sort of economic program was branded "''tou-pas-touism''", a Creole word meaning "everywhere". However, the opposition argued that the growing economy was only being financed by debt. Feeling confident with his government's achievements, James called a snap election six months before it were due in order to quell the allegations of corruption.
2000-present
In the January 2000 elections, the party suffered a surprise defeat. Though it won the most votes as a block, the party lost three seats and its majority in parliament. No party won enough seats to form a government on its own. Dominica's other two major parties, the
Dominica Freedom Party
The Dominica Freedom Party (DFP) is a conservative political party in Dominica. It shares much of the same socially and economically conservative principles as the Conservative Party in the UK. The party has been led by Bernard Hurtault since 2 ...
and the
Dominica Labour Party
The Dominica Labour Party is a centre-left social-democratic political party in Dominica.
History
Founded in 1955 by Phyllis Shand Allfrey and Emmanuel Christopher Loblack, the Dominica Labour Party is the oldest political party in Dominica. N ...
, had agreed to a co-operation agreement to win the election and it was no surprise when they made a coalition against the Workers' Party. James was replaced as prime minister by
Roosevelt Douglas
Roosevelt Bernard "Rosie" Douglas (15 October 1941 – 1 October 2000) was a politician and human rights activist from Dominica. He served as Prime Minister of Dominica from February 2000 until his death in office eight months later.
Early life
R ...
.
In February 2000, James returned to the office of leader of the opposition. Back in opposition, he called on the government to prosecute the charges of corruption in order to clear his party's name, but the government never charged any members of his party with wrongdoing. He was sued for libel by
Eugenia Charles as a result of the bugging allegations; he agreed to compensate as well as to publicly apologise to Dame Eugenia.
In the May 2005 elections, the party conducted a vigorous campaign but it lost one seat in parliament. James continued as leader of the opposition. In July 2005, he was appointed to the
CARICOM leaders of government and parliamentary opposition parties committee. However, in December 2005, he did not seek re-election as party leader and he was replaced by
Earl Williams. In July 2007, he ceded the office to Williams.
A February 2007 poll conducted by Caribbean Development Research Services Inc (CADRES) found that, though he is no longer leader of the United Workers' Party, he still enjoyed considerable support. 32% of respondents favored his leadership, compared to 58% for the prime minister, Skerrit, and 6% for the current United Workers' Party leader, Williams. James was president of the UWP for three years, and then was re-elected political leader of the party at its January 2012 convention.
[.]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Edison
Prime Ministers of Dominica
Foreign ministers of Dominica
Members of the House of Assembly of Dominica
Living people
1943 births
Dominica Methodists
Alumni of the University of Reading
Alumni of the University of East London
Alumni of Imperial College London
United Workers' Party (Dominica) politicians
People from Saint Andrew Parish, Dominica