The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) was invited by the Government of the Republic of Guyana to establish a Mission to observe the 2011 General Elections.
In response to that invitation a fifteen (15) member Observer Group under the leadership of Mr. Hensley Robinson of Barbados and Ms. Lorna Simon of Antigua and Barbuda was selected with the Core Group of Mr. Robinson and Ms. Simon arriving in Guyana on Tuesday, 22 November 2011.
The other thirteen (13) members of the Group are:
(i) Ms. Grace-Anne Crichlow, Barbados;
(ii) Mr. Gustavo Pech, Belize;
(iii) Mr. Henry George, Dominica;
(iv) Ms. Leslie Ann James, Grenada;
(v) Mr. Lingham Samuel, Grenada;
(vi) Mr. Jean Thélève Pierre-Toussaint, Haiti;
(vii) Ms. Erlene Williams, Jamaica;
(viii) Ms. Gwendoline Eudine Bridgeman-Bushell, Barbados;
(ix) Dr. Hermia Morton-Anthony, St. Kitts and Nevis;
(x) Ms. Sylvia Finlay-Scrub, St. Vincent and the Grenadines;
(xi) Ms. Jennifer Victorine Van Dijk-Silos, Suriname;
(xii) Ms. Dorethy Claudia Florence Telting, Suriname; and
(xiii) Dr. Noel Kalicharan, Trinidad and Tobago.
The Mission will be supported by the CARICOM Secretariat in general but moreso by Ms. Janet Crick, Mr. Alan Donawa, Mr. John Campbell and Dr. Raghunath Mahabir. The Core Group has already met with H.E. Bharrat Jagdeo, President of the Republic of Guyana, H.E. Mr. Irwin LaRocque, Secretary-General, CARICOM, Ambassador Colin Granderson, Assistant Secretary-General, Foreign and Community Relations and other members of the CARICOM Secretariat, the Chairman of GECOM, Dr. Steve Surujbally, the Chief Elections Officer, Mr. Gocool Boodoo, representatives of political parties and other societal groups.
The other members of the Mission are all expected to be here by Friday, 25th November 2011.
In practising democracies it is generally accepted that the basis for the authority of government is the will of the people and that will is usually expressed through the form of specified periodic elections held under the well established principle of “one person one vote”.
Indeed it goes further than that and the view is widely held that if such elections are to be meaningful they must be held under some other considerations such as secret balloting and adequate accessibility.
In performing the duties of observation as required by CARICOM, this Mission will as far as is humanly possible endeavour to observe the processes in the coming General Elections and make the necessary reports.
