(Trinidad Guardian) Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar has gotten her wish to have independent international observers for the General Election on April 28. The announcement was made by Prime Minister Stuart Young during his first post-Cabinet meeting as the new head of Government at Whitehall, Port-of-Spain, yesterday.
The Prime Minister revealed that Government had invited three bodies, including Caricom, the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Carter Center, to assist in the observation of the election.
On Thursday, Persad-Bissessar wrote to Young, urgently requesting that Government invite independent international election observers, after former prime minister Dr Rowley only invited Caricom election observers.
In Persad-Bissessar’s letter to Young, she said international election observers had monitored T&T’s general elections since 2000, ensuring transparency and fairness. However, she pointed out that in 2020, for the first time in 20 years, observers were absent.
However, Young said before he received Persad-Bissessar’s letter, he had already sent an official letter requesting the Commonwealth Secretariat—which consists of international observers—to provide observers for the election.
Yesterday, Young said a letter was sent to Caricom informing them of the April 28 election date.
This follows a January 13 letter from the Caricom Secretary General committing to sending election observers whenever the election is called.
Young said he’s also instructed Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Dr Amery Browne to send correspondence to the Carter Center asking for their assistance as well.
He said his efforts are to ensure there are no distractions in the election, as has been the case in the past.
“We, as a government and certainly as a party, intend to have free and fair elections as we’ve always had, and as the Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) has always carried out in Trinidad and Tobago. What we learn from our mistakes, we learn from history, meaning that we see every time a particular party loses an election in Trinidad, they look for every excuse as to why it is they’ve lost and they run to the courts, et cetera,” Young said.
“We have absolutely nothing to hide in Trinidad and Tobago. I am proud as a citizen that we’ve always had free and fair elections. So, to take away that, we have invited those three bodies. We will invite the Carter Center as well to send people here to come and observe our free and fair elections.”
Young also defended his decision to maintain Caricom observers following Persad-Bissessar’s claims that there’s a conflict of interest, since the Caricom Assistant Secretary General, Elizabeth Solomon, is the wife of former attorney general Reginald Armour.
Rubbishing these claims, Young said while he was not surprised by her remarks, Armour’s wife is a professional.
He added, “I have seen that the Leader of the Opposition has put very spurious challenges to the body that is Caricom. I want to state very firmly here from this platform, on behalf of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago is a member of Caricom. We are not only a proud member of Caricom, but we will continue to be at the forefront of the defence of Caricom. Caricom has a very important role to play … We will not disrespect Caricom in any manner. The Leader of the Opposition and all citizens are entitled to their opinions. They’re entitled to free speech.”
Guardian Media reached out to Persad-Bissessar for comment but got no respond up to press time.
However, UNC PRO Dr Kirk Meighoo took to social media yesterday, posting, “Stuart Young accedes to the demand of the Hon. Kamla Persad-Bissessar.”
