Editing History of Dominica (section)

==Independence: 1978 to present day==

On November 3, 1978, the Commonwealth of Dominica was granted independence by the United Kingdom.

In August 1979, [[Hurricane David]], packing winds of {{convert|150|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on}}, struck the island with devastating force.  Forty-two people were killed and 75% of the islanders' homes were destroyed or severely damaged.

Independence did little to solve problems stemming from centuries of economic [[underdevelopment]], and in mid-1979, political discontent led to the formation of an interim government, led by [[Oliver Seraphin]]. It was replaced after the 1980 elections by a government led by the [[Dominica Freedom Party]] under Prime Minister [[Eugenia Charles]], the Caribbean's first female prime minister.  Within a year of her inauguration she survived two unsuccessful coups and in October 1983, as chairperson of the Organisation of East Caribbean States, endorsed the US [[Invasion of Grenada]].

Chronic economic problems were compounded by the severe impact of hurricanes in 1979 and in 1980. By the end of the 1980s, the economy had made a healthy recovery, which weakened in the 1990s due to a decrease in banana prices.

In 1995 the government was defeated in elections by the United Workers Party of [[Edison James]]. James became prime minister, serving until the February 2000 elections, when the [[Dominica United Workers Party]] (DUWP) was defeated by the [[Dominica Labour Party]] (DLP), led by [[Rosie Douglas]]. He was a former [[socialist]] activist, and many feared that his approach to politics might be impractical. However, these were somewhat quieted when he formed a coalition with the more conservative Dominica Freedom Party. Douglas died suddenly after only eight months in office, on October 1, 2000, and was replaced by [[Pierre Charles (Dominican politician)|Pierre Charles]], also of the DLP. In 2003, [[Nicholas Liverpool]] was elected and sworn in as president, succeeding [[Vernon Shaw]]. On January 6, 2004, Prime Minister Pierre Charles, who had been suffering from heart problems since 2003, died. He became the second consecutive prime minister of Dominica to die in office of a heart attack.<ref>{{cite news |title=When Prime Minister Pierre Charles died |url=http://sundominica.com/articles/when-prime-minister-pierre-charles-died-4061/ |work=The Sun}}</ref> The foreign minister, [[Osborne Riviere]] immediately became prime minister, but the education minister, [[Roosevelt Skerrit]] succeeded him as prime minister and became the new leader of the Dominica Labour Party. Elections were held on May 5, 2005, with the ruling coalition maintaining power.<ref>{{cite news |title=IFES Election Guide {{!}} Elections: Dominica Parliamentary May 5, 2005 |url=https://www.electionguide.org/elections/id/1412/ |work=www.electionguide.org}}</ref>

In 2017, [[Hurricane Maria]] struck Dominica and was the most powerful and devastating hurricane ever recorded in Dominica.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hurricane Maria 'devastates' Dominica: PM |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-41317164 |work=BBC News |date=19 September 2017}}</ref>

President [[Charles Savarin|Charles Angelo Savarin]] was re-elected in 2018.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://antiguanewsroom.com/dominica-savarin-re-elected-president-opposition-stages-walkout/|title=DOMINICA-Savarin re-elected President, opposition stages walkout |date=2 October 2018 }}</ref>

In the 2019 [[2019 Dominican general election|general elections]] The Dominica Labour Party (DLP) was given another overwhelming mandate – for a record fifth consecutive five-year term. The party's charismatic but often maligned leader, Roosevelt Skerrit, will serve a new five-year term as the Prime Minister of Dominica.<ref>{{cite news |title=Reflections on Dominica 2019 general election results |url=https://www.caribbeannewsglobal.com/reflections-on-dominica-2019-general-election-results/ |work=Caribbean News Global |date=10 December 2019}}</ref>