Members of most of the observer missions are here to participate in the 2011 general and regional elections on Monday next and according to the Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom), the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) might be fielding a contingent here after all.
Former Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Secretary-General, Denis Marshall will lead a 13-member Commonwealth Observer group for the general and regional elections in Guyana on November 28.
According to a press release from Commonwealth Secretariat, Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma constituted the observer mission at the invitation of the Government of Guyana.
“The Commonwealth has a long history of engagement with Guyana and we are pleased to be observing these important elections,” the press release said, quoting Sharma.
“We hope that the electoral campaign and ballot will further strengthen the democratic processes there, and that all participants will engage peacefully and constructively throughout,” the release quoted Sharma as saying.
The release said that the group’s mandate is to observe and consider all aspects of the electoral process with a view to assessing compliance with the standards for democratic elections to which Guyana is committed. Where appropriate, the team may make recommendations for the future strengthening of the electoral framework.
“The group will act impartially and independently, and conduct itself according to the standards expressed in the International Declaration of Principles of Elections Observers, to which the Commonwealth is a signatory,” the release said.
According to the release, the group’s report will be submitted to the Commonwealth Secretary General, who will convey it to the Government of Guyana, Gecom, political parties, and in due course to all Commonwealth governments.
The Commonwealth Observer Group arrived in Guyana yesterday and will be in Guyana until December 5. The group comprises Marshall, Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Secretary General (2002 – 2006 and formally Minister of Conservation, Forestry and Lands of New Zealand; Alan Ferguson, former President of the Senate, Australia; Tayela Rehman, Executive Director Democracywatch Bangladesh; Wendy Sawatzky, Media Expert, Canada; Gerald Burton, Chairman, Election Commission, Dominica, Nana Oye Lithur, Human Rights Expert, Ghana; Catherine Musava, Elections Expert, Ghana; Dafe Akpedeye, Lawyer, Nigeria; Justice (Retd) Fazal-ur-Rahman Bazai, Elections Commissioner, Pakistan; Oliver Knight, Elections Expert, St. Kitts and Nevis; Adelle Roopchand, Communications Expert, Trinidad and Tobago; Timothy Neale, Media Consultant, United Kingdom; and Goodwell Lungu, Executive Director, Transparency International, Zambia.
Meanwhile, Hensley Robinson, Chief Elections Officer of Barbados, will lead a 22-member Caribbean Community (Caricom) Electoral Observer Mission to the Guyana Elections.
“Caricom had been invited by the Government of Guyana to field an observer mission for the general elections. Robinson was also chief of the electoral observer mission at the last general elections in Guyana in 2006. The Deputy Chief of Mission is Lorna Simon, Chief Elections Officer of Antigua and Barbuda,” Caricom said in a press release.
Other members of the mission are Grace-Anne Crichlow of Barbados; Gwendoline Eudine Bridgeman- Bushell of Barbados; Pech Gustavo of Belize; Henry George of Dominica; Leslie Ann James of Grenada; Lingham Samuel of Grenada; Jean Thélève Pierre-Toussaint of Haiti; Erlene Williams of Jamaica; Hermia Morton-Anthony of St Kitts and Nevis; Sylvia Finlay Scrub of St Vincent and the Grenadines; Jennifer Victorine Van Dijk-Silos and Dorethy Claudia Florence Telting of Suriname; and Noel Kalicharan of Trinidad and Tobago.
According to the Caricom press release, the remaining seven mission members will comprise staff of the Caricom Secretariat.
The release said that a core group of observers including the Chief and Deputy Chief of Mission are expected to be in Guyana by tomorrow morning with the full team in place on Thursday.
Speaking to Stabroek News yesterday, John Enright of the Organisation of American States (OAS) said that the some persons from the team of observers are in the country and that they will be attending a training session on Thursday. He said that the OAS team is yet to finalise the numbers of observers for Guyana and where they would be going.
Meanwhile, Public Relations Officer of Gecom Vishnu Persaud said the government has received correspondence which suggests that the continental grouping, Unasur, might be sending an observer mission for the elections. This is one of the entities that government had invited but which had initially written back giving reasons for not being able to field observers.
