Observers won’t interfere with election

(CNS): The international mission of observers that will be watching the Cayman Islands general election next Wednesday (22 May) said they would not interfere with the process but would record and validate the election from start to finish. Mario Galea (left) from Malta, who is heading up the six man team, told the press Friday that the team was here to ensure a free and fair election but the members were not interested in who was elected, only how they get elected. Galea said the mission would observe every element of the election on behalf of the people, from campaign finances to the count. Two days after the polls close they will give a preliminary report of their observations before publishing a final report within two months of the election. (Photo by Lennon Christian)

“We will carry out this mission in the most impartial, fair and independent way,” Galea said. “We are interested in the election process but not in the political outcome. Our main interest is that the result truly reflects the will of the people. Our first and utmost commitment is to the people of the Cayman Islands. We wish them well and hope they enfranchise themselves in the upcoming elections.”

Paid for by the UK and invited by the Cayman government, with only the UDP objecting to the mission, the team made it clear they will be monitoring the process, not running it, and will be following accepted international standards.

The mission will be observing the campaigning between now and the polling day and ensuring that all the candidates are able to move around freely. They will also look at voter awareness and education, the freedom of the press and they hope to observe at least 90% of activity at polling stations. They will watch the entire count and will observe how the local authorities deal with any complaints before, during and after the election.

Having already started their job monitoring the mobile polling in West Bay on Thursday, speaking at Friday’s briefing Galea said they would reserve all their comments about what they had seen so far until after the election. While their role is to watch, Galea said that, should they observe anything that they felt was contrary to the process being free and fair, they would draw that to the attention of the presiding officer or local authorities and they would then observer how it was dealt with, rather than stepping in themselves.

The election experts denied that there was any stigma at all to having international observers and said that in reality it helps to validate the result. With most countries now inviting observers, it is seen as a positive step that helps to preserve the democratic process not undermine it. Not only can the people of Cayman have the confidence that the result was fair, the elected officials can be confident that they have a genuine mandate, Galea said. The mission’s leader also said that their recommendations could help to make what is already a good system into an excellent one.

Alongside Galea, who is a member of Malta’s parliament, there will be five other observers from the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. They are Scottish MP Margaret Mitchell, Senator Philip Ozouf from Jersey, legal officers Juanita Barker of Guyana, and Fern Narcis from Trinidad and Tobago and the speaker from the Bermudian Parliament, Randolph Horton. The international team will work alongside but independently from the local team appointed by the Elections Office, which Cayman’s election supervisor said would assist his office in supervising the process.