Leader of the Opposition (Dominica)

The Leader of the Opposition of the Commonwealth of Dominica is the Member of Parliament who leads the Official Opposition in the House of Assembly of Dominica.

The current Leader of the Opposition is Jesma Paul, an independent candidate of the Salisbury constituency, who was sworn in on December 20 2022. The position was previously held by Lennox Linton.

Provision
Chapter IV Section 66 of The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Dominica states: "1. There shall be a Leader of the Opposition who shall be appointed by the President.

2. Whenever there is occasion for the appointment of a Leader of the Opposition the President shall appoint the elected member of the House who appears to him most likely to command the support of a majority of the elected members of the House who do not support the Government: or, if no elected member of the House appears to him to command such support, the elected member of the House who appears to him to command the support of the largest single group of members of the House who do not support the Government:

Provided that if a member of the House was elected at a general election in which he stood as a supporter of a political party and the majority of members of the House elected at that time (whether as Representatives or Senators) stood as supporters of that party, he shall, so long as he remains a member of the House by virtue of that election, not be eligible for appointment as Leader of the Opposition."

The House of Assembly did not have a Leader of the Opposition in early 2010, following the results of the 2009 general election. The leader of the opposition United Workers' Party, Ronald Green, lost his seat, and the three UWP Representatives elected boycotted the House of Assembly. This ended with the swearing in of Hector John as Leader of the Opposition on 19 July 2010.