Caricom to send observers when Trinidad and Tobago elections called

CARICOM has accepted the Government's invitation to send observers for the 2025 general elections, said a statement from the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) on January 20.

"The Secretary-General of Caricom, Dr Carla Barnett CBE, has accepted the invitation extended to the Caricom Secretariat by Dr the Honourable Keith Rowley, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, to deploy an election observation mission to oversee this year's general elections."

The OPM said Rowley had promised to invite a Caricom delegation to TT whenever the election was called, when he addressed Parliament on December 9, 2024, speaking on a motion to approve the Draft Elections and Boundaries Commission Order 2024.

"That correspondence was sent on December 11, 2024.

Barnett accepted Rowley's invitation in a letter dated January 13.

The letter said, "The Caricom Secretariat is fully prepared to undertake the necessary administrative arrangements for the deployment of a Caricom election observation team to TT whenever we receive further information regarding the scheduling of the elections.

"We are honoured to support the Government of the Republic of TT and all member states holding elections in 2025, in continued efforts to uphold democracy, the rule of law and good governance within the Caribbean Community. We will do so to the best of our abilities."

The OPM statement said the Government remained committed to TT’s tradition of "free, fair and transparent elections" and wished to express its pleasure at the acceptance of this invitation and looked forward to having the Caricom delegation observe the upcoming 2025 general elections.