[UPDATED] Caricom, Commonwealth election observers arrive on April 21

ELECTION OBSERVERS will be in TT a week ahead of the general election on April 28.

A release by the Ministry of Foreign and Caricom Affairs said missions from Caricom and Commonwealth were confirmed and they would conduct the exercise from April 21-30.

Copies of the letters to the respective groups were also attached to the release.

“They are also expected to share their observations and make recommendations for future electoral processes with relevant authorities, stakeholders and members of the public.”

The Carter Centre, it said, was also invited by Prime Minister Stuart Young. A letter was sent to Dr David Carroll, the director of the Democracy Programme, dated March 21 but, so far, correspondence indicated it has been unable to deploy a mission to observe the election.

It said former PM Dr Keith Rowley wrote Caricom Secretary-General Dr Carla Barnett requesting the presence of a Caricom electoral observer mission for the 2025 general election on December 10, 2024. In a letter dated January 13, Barnett replied saying the Secretariat was prepared to make the necessary administrative arrangements for the deployment of an electoral observer mission.

On March 19, Young wrote Baroness Patricia Scotland KC, the then-Commonwealth Secretary-General, requesting an electoral observation mission from the Commonwealth. In response, on March 25, Scotland said arrangements would be made to deploy a Commonwealth electoral mission and contact would be made with the relevant officials to coordinate the planning and deployment of the mission.

“The chief election officer (of the Elections and Boundaries Commission) has been officially written informing of the presence of the missions and of the request from the Caricom Secretariat for meetings with key stakeholders. Details with regard to the Commonwealth’s team are being addressed.

“Facilitation of the electoral observer missions is in keeping with international best practice and reflects TT’s long-standing commitment and adherence to democracy and the rule of law, to the promotion and protection of human rights and the country’s universally-acknowledged tradition of free and fair elections,” the letter said.

Election scrutiny important

UNC political leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar has been calling on the government for international observers for the election for some time. She first wrote Rowley on September 16, 2024, and then Young on March 19 expressing concerns about the erosion of democratic institutions, the transparency of the electoral process and the impartiality of the EBC.

Up to April 10 at the UNC labour consultations in Couva, Persad-Bissessar asked for an update on the status of the election observers. She said the UNC team met with the EBC on April 7 but the EBC knew nothing about the observers.

At a UNC meeting in Arima on April 11, spokesperson Anil Roberts called on supporters to be vigilant on election day as he warned the PNM was planning to steal the election.

Up to press time, calls and messages to UNC public relations officer Dr Kirk Meighoo and deputy political leader Dr Roodal Moonilal for a response went unanswered.

In response to the announcement, National Transformation Alliance political leader Gary Griffith said the elections observer mission officers were welcomed, but were expected as they had been requested and agreed upon by the government.

“I was a little disappointed when I heard other political parties stating they preferred to have international observers, giving the perception Caricom cannot be trusted because of their close affiliation with other political parties in TT. I think it’s ludicrous to try to question the ethics of Caricom.”

He believed the Caricom observers were sufficient to put checks and balances on the election and said he wished they were present during the local government election in 2023.

“The election observers will ensure some degree of stability because what they will ensure as well is any political party that gets into government would not be going in there with a cloud hanging over their head based on a perception that they got there through some type of clandestine plan.”

In a statement on April 7, the UNC said an eight-member delegation met with the EBC to discuss matters ahead of the April 28 general election.

The party said the matter of observers was one of two major election-integrity issues which were unsolved, and with which the UNC remained “deeply concerned” and “dissatisfied.”

"Election observation by impartial international bodies is a standard democratic safeguard, especially in a context where public confidence in the electoral process must be protected and upheld.”

The opposition party added that the country must not hold an election without independent international scrutiny and said it would pursue the matter urgently including direct engagement with international bodies and diplomatic missions, if necessary.

The UNC said it was also concerned about what it described as the commission’s inability to replace or discipline returning officers.

Objection to returning officer

On April 12, UNC general secretary Peter Kanhai wrote EBC CEO Fern Narcis-Scope about the appointment and removal of returning officers after an incident on Nomination Day, April 4.

He claimed a returning officer in Couva South was biased after she allowed the PNM candidate Aaron Mohammed to drive to the returning officer’s office while denying the UNC candidate Barry Padarath the same courtesy.

When UNC members met with the EBC on April 7 they demanded the officer be removed but were told the appointment and removal of returning officers lay with the President.

However, Kanhai said under Section 6 of the Representation of the People Act the EBC appointed returning officers. Also, he said using Section 71 (11) of the Constitution, Section 3 (1) of the Representation of the People Act and Chapter 3:01 Section 39(1)(a) of the Interpretation Act, the EBC could remove a returning officer and appoint a “more suitable” person.

Section 3 (1) of the Representation of the People Act said the EBC directed and supervised the administrative conduct of elections and enforced “on the part of all election officers fairness, impartiality and compliance with the Act.

Section 71(11) of the Constitution said the conduct of elections in every constituency was subject to the direction and supervision of the EBC.

Section 39 of the Interpretation Act read, “(1) Subject to the constitutional laws of TT, words in a written law authorising the appointment of a person to any office shall be deemed also to confer on the authority in whom the power of appointment is vested-

(a) power, at the discretion of the authority, to remove or suspend him;...

But where the power of appointment is only exercisable upon the recommendation or subject to the approval, consent or concurrence of some other person or authority the power of removal shall, unless the contrary intention is expressed in the written law be exercised only upon the recommendation, or subject to the approval, consent or concurrence of that other person or authority.”

Kanhai claimed, “During our meeting with the EBC, officials of the UNC were told that if they did not agree with the EBC's position, they could take it to court.

“The UNC therefore calls on the EBC to disclose publicly the name of the attorney or attorney(s) who provided any legal opinion on this issue to the EBC.”

He said if the EBC got any advice from the lawyers who received millions of dollars in legal fees from the PNM over the past nine years “the ordinary person would think the opinion was biased in favour of the PNM.”

He said the EBC had to “come clean” because if returning officers were biased the election would not be free and fair.

This story was originally published with the title "Election observers expected on April 21" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

ELECTION observers will be in Trinidad and Tobago for the final week ahead of the general election on April 28.

A release by the Ministry of Foreign and Caricom Affairs said missions from Caricom and the Commonwealth were confirmed and they would conduct the exercise between April 21-30.

“They are also expected to share their observations and make recommendations for future electoral processes with relevant authorities, stakeholders and members of the public.”

The Carter Centre was also invited by Prime Minister Stuart Young, SC via letter to Dr David Carroll, the director of the Democracy Programme, dated March 21 but, so far, correspondence indicated it has been unable to deploy a mission to observe the election.

Copies of the letters sent to the three bodies were also disclosed in the release as well as the responses.

The UNC has raised the absence of election observers on their campaign platform.