The General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS) and Saint Lucia’s Electoral Commission signed the agreement on the electoral observation process of the 2011 general elections in Saint Lucia on Friday.
At the ceremony, which took place in the Electoral Department of Saint Lucia, Dr Rosina Wiltshire, chief of mission, thanked the government of St Lucia for the invitation to observe the election. She highlighted that the OAS mission is committed to support the country in deepening the democratic process through ensuring peaceful, fair and transparent elections.
On behalf of Saint Lucia’s Electoral Commission, Kenneth Monplaisir, chair of the Electoral Department, welcomed the team of observers and provided them all the guarantees to grant access to all aspects of the electoral process.
The agreement stated that the electoral observation missions shall be carried out at the request of the member state concerned and should be carried out in accordance with the principles and norms of the OAS. The Organization shall ensure that these missions are effective and independent and shall provide them with the necessary resources for that purpose. They shall be conducted in an objective, impartial, and transparent manner and with the appropriate technical expertise, among other things.
The members of the OAS electoral observation mission have initiated their work in the country with meetings with key stakeholders and will be deployed throughout the territory on Monday. The OAS/EOM is composed of 14 observers coming from 8 countries (Barbados, Bolivia, Canada, Colombia, Guatemala, St Vincent, United States, Venezuela). The Mission received financial contributions from Bolivia, Chile, the United States of America and the United Kingdom.
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