by Linda Straker
- CARICOM electoral observer mission members began arriving 7 March
- Invited to provide impartial assessment of the conduct of the elections
- OAS is also expected to send a mission
Paulin Welsh, Director, Legal Affairs, Research and Development, in the Electoral Office of Jamaica is the chief of mission for the CARICOM team that will be observing Grenada’s 13 March General Election.
A news release from CARICOM said that the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) had deployed an electoral observer mission to monitor the general election in Grenada, organised by the CARICOM Secretariat through its Directorate of Foreign and Community Relations.
The mission was invited by the Prime Minister of Grenada, Dr the Hon. Keith Mitchell, to provide an impartial assessment of the conduct of the elections.
The Chief of Mission is Paulin Welsh; other members are nationals of The Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. The mission will be supported by 2 members of staff from the secretariat.
“Observation of the electoral process and electoral procedures in the various Member States of the Community is a regular practice in keeping with the importance the Caribbean Community places on good governance,” said the release, which explained that missions are mounted only by invitation from the Receiving Member State and CEOM Observers are nominated by the Governments of CARICOM Member States.
The Chief of Mission and the CARICOM Secretariat Support Staff began arriving in Grenada on 7 March, while the remaining members will arrive on 9 March 2018. The entire mission will depart on 15 March 2018.
The Organisation of American States (OAS) is also expected to send a mission.
