The Caricom Electoral Observer Mission has concluded that the St Lucia General Elections held on Monday can be considered by any objective standard to have been free and fair and that the results represented the will of the people. According to a Caricom press statement, the Mission was unanimous in its appreciation of the orderly and peaceful manner in which the poll was conducted and they were satisfied with the process as it played out throughout November 28. It also noted the intensity but incident-free nature of the counting of the ballots.
On Elections Day, the Mission organised itself into five teams in order to maximise its resources to cover and monitor as much of the elections process as possible and to make a reasoned judgement of that process based on the observations of the respective teams. They visited all 17 constituencies.
The Observers witnessed the electoral process at work for the opening and closing of the polls, for the casting of ballots and for the arrangements to ensure the transparency of the voting process from the time the voter entered the restricted polling area to his/her departure from it. Finally, the teams observed the counting of the ballots at polling stations as well as the final count.
They were “unanimous in their observation that they encountered nothing that was likely to have had any negative impact on the outcome of the voting process and that each voter whom they observed appeared to be quite relaxed and confident that his/her vote was being processed within an efficient and just system.”
Caricom said it sent the Observer Mission to monitor the elections in response to an invitation from Prime Minister Stephenson King. The Mission comprised Ambassador Rudolph Collins from Guyana; Eugene Petty of St Kitts and Nevis; Anthonyson King of Antigua and Barbuda; John Henry Haynes of Barbados; Paula Dawson of Belize; Ambassador Ellsworth John of St Vincent and The Grenadines; Sadhna Dulam Getrouwd Gouri and Kenneth Karijomengglo both of Suriname; Howard Cayenne of Trinidad and Tobago and Dennisia Francisco of the Caricom Secretariat.
In addition to paying a courtesy call on the Prime Minister, the Mission spent the days immediately prior the elections obtaining the perspectives of a wide cross section of the populace. This was done through interactions with leaders of the political parties contesting the elections, representatives of the Chambers of Commerce, leaders of youth organisations, representatives of the national inter-faith group and wherever and, whenever possible, with individual citizens of St Lucia.
Observers also met with the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force regarding security arrangements being put in place to ensure that the elections were both orderly and peaceful.
The Mission found that a recurring and unanimous theme in all these interactions was the clearly expressed view that Saint Lucians have a tradition of respect for the democratic norms of civilised society and for the electoral process that underpins it. Against this background, the individuals and groups with whom they spoke were collectively of the view that while there may exist serious differences, particularly at election time, regarding the means towards achieving what was good for the country, citizens nevertheless had great faith and full confidence in their democratic electoral system.
The Mission also held discussions with Kenneth Monplaisir, chairman of the St Lucia Elections Commission and Commissioner Michael Flood as well as with Carson Raggie, the Chief Elections Officer. These meetings were crucial to gaining a better understanding of the St Lucian electoral process and the particular steps that were put in place to ensure that elections continued to be properly managed and that the electorate’s confidence in the process was in no way compromised or misplaced.
According to the Observers, there were some expressions of concern, most of which were at the time already in the public domain, that there were aspects of both the elections campaign in general and the electoral process itself which could place in question the levelness of the electoral playing field. These concerns included discrepancies in the then available Voters’ List; uneven access to free radio and television time; campaign financing; the constitutional requirement for the revision of constituency boundaries; and inadequate public information regarding the voting process itself.
Observers also pointed out that although the concerns became an integral part of its information base, its mandate prevented it then, and it does now, from making any comment on them. To the extent; however, that some of the concerns raised may be considered by the Mission to be intrinsic to the amelioration of the electoral process then these, with appropriate recommendations, will form an integral part of the Mission’s Final Report. Thereafter in its ongoing process of constantly improving the St Lucia electoral system, the government of the day will determine whether it will factor these recommendations into its consideration.
