Both regional and international observers will be engaged during the upcoming general election on April 28, Prime Minister Stuart Young has assured.
Young was speaking at his first post-Cabinet news conference at Whitehall, Port of Spain.
He said that in the very first piece of correspondence he received from Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar, she requested the presence of observers on election day.
“I read the Leader of the Opposition’s letter, and I’m sure many of you have, and I smiled because my predecessor, prime minister Dr (Keith) Rowley, had already initiated the process and he had conversations, as you do, and then you follow up with correspondence,” he said.
He further explained that Rowley “wrote to the Secretary General of Caricom as parliamentary election was as at the 10th of December, 2024, due to be held in Trinidad and Tobago in 2025, and consequently, he took this opportunity to extend an invitation to Caricom to deploy a mission to Trinidad and Tobago to observe the electoral process”.
He added that there was a positive response to Rowley’s letter from Caricom, from the Secretary General, on January 13, saying they’re fully prepared to undertake the necessary administrative arrangements for the deployment of a Caricom election observation team to T&T whenever they receive further information regarding the scheduling of elections.
With announcement of the general election date, Young said a diplomatic note was sent on March 19 to the Caricom Secretariat officially informing them that the election is to be held on April 28.
Commonwealth SC,
Carter Center contacted
Young also rubbished statements by Persad-Bissessar against the Caricom body that they can’t carry out their electoral observation duties on the basis that an Attorney General’s wife (now former attorney general Reginald) is an assistant secretary general at Caricom.
He said: “We have invited Cariom and Caricom is on its way for April 28.”
He added that before he had seen Persad-Bissessar’s letter, he had also dispatched an official letter as the Prime Minister to Commonwealth Secretary General Baroness Patricia Scotland, KC, requesting that the Commonwealth Secretariat provide observers as well to Trinidad and Tobago’s election.
According to Young, that is the body of the Commonwealth with a lot of international expertise.
He said he has also instructed Minister of Foreign and Caricom Affairs Dr Amery Browne to prepare for his dispatch a letter to the Carter Center requesting that it assist in observing the election.
The Carter Center is a United States-based non-governmental organisation that helps to improve life for people in more than 80 countries by resolving conflicts, advancing democracy and human rights, preventing diseases, and improving mental health care.
Young said he didn’t “want there to be any manner of disruption because I can tell you, from the election that is coming very soon, that we as the Government, and certainly as the party, intend to have free and fair elections as we’ve always had and as the EBC (Elections and Boundaries Commission) has always carried out in Trinidad and Tobago.
“But 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 this loss and they run to the courts, etc. 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.”
Support from COP
Meanwhile, Congress of the People (COP) political leader Prakash Ramadhar has expressed his support for the Opposition’s call for international observers.
Ramadhar stressed the importance of the upcoming general election, saying he believed it is critical that the outcome of the election should be “above reproach”.
“As a result of wanting that, I think it is crucial to have independent international observers as we had in the past, so that they would ensure that as best as they could on election day that things are done according to law and order. And if there is any error, any mischief, it would be reported upon.
“I can see no real objection to having persons here to ensure transparency and fairness in our electoral process. I can see no reason for them to not be here. I can see no way that they be obstructions in any form or fashion, in fact, I think it is the healthiest thing one can do now because I do not wish, at the end of it all, that the election results are queried as we have had in the past,” said Ramadhar via a voice note.
