ELECTION OBSERVERS will be in TT a week ahead of the general election on April 28.
A release by the Ministry of Foreign and Caricom Affairs said missions from Caricom and Commonwealth were confirmed and they would conduct the exercise from April 21-30.
Copies of the letters to the respective groups were also attached to the release.
“They are also expected to share their observations and make recommendations for future electoral processes with relevant authorities, stakeholders and members of the public.”
The Carter Centre, it said, was also invited by Prime Minister Stuart Young. A letter was sent to Dr David Carroll, the director of the Democracy Programme, dated March 21 but, so far, correspondence indicated it has been unable to deploy a mission to observe the election.
It said former PM Dr Keith Rowley wrote Caricom Secretary-General Dr Carla Barnett requesting the presence of a Caricom electoral observer mission for the 2025 general election on December 10, 2024. In a letter dated January 13, Barnett replied saying the Secretariat was prepared to make the necessary administrative arrangements for the deployment of an electoral observer mission.
On March 19, Young wrote Baroness Patricia Scotland KC, the then-Commonwealth Secretary-General, requesting an electoral observation mission from the Commonwealth. In response, on March 25, Scotland said arrangements would be made to deploy a Commonwealth electoral mission and contact would be made with the relevant officials to coordinate the planning and deployment of the mission.
“The chief election officer (of the Elections and Boundaries Commission) has been officially written informing of the presence of the missions and of the request from the Caricom Secretariat for meetings with key stakeholders. Details with regard to the Commonwealth’s team are being addressed.
[caption id="attachment_1035092" align="alignnone" width="683"] Chief Election Officer Fern Nancis-Scope -[/caption]
“Facilitation of the electoral observer missions is in keeping with international best practice and reflects TT’s long-standing commitment and adherence to democracy and the rule of law, to the promotion and protection of human rights and the country’s universally-acknowledged tradition of free and fair elections,” the letter said.
Election scrutiny important
UNC political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar has been calling on the government for international observers for the election for some time. She first wrote Rowley on September 16, 2024, and then Young on March 19 expressing concerns about the erosion of democratic institutions, the transparency of the electoral process and the impartiality of the EBC.
Up to April 10 at the UNC labour consultations in Couva, Persad-Bissessar asked for an update on the status of the election observers. She said the UNC team met with the EBC on April 7 but the EBC knew nothing about the observers.
At a UNC meeting in Arima on April 11, spokesperson Anil Roberts called on supporters to be vigilant on election day as he warned
