October 4th, 2010: Members of Her Majesty’s Opposition have expressed serious concerns about the lack of clarity in relation to the electoral process and the general perception that the Government may be putting systems in place to manipulate the process. Opposition Leader, Dr. the Rt. Hon. Keith Mitchell therefore calls on the Organisation of American States to take a keen interest in the process leading up to the next general elections to ensure that the process is transparent and fair and that our democracy is preserved.

Dr. Mitchell made this call when the Assistant Secretary General of the OAS, Ambassador Ramdeen paid a courtesy call on the Opposition Leader, accompanied by the local OAS Representative. Dr. Mitchell headed a three member team comprising Parliamentary Representative for St. Andrew North East Hon. Roland Bhola and former Minister for Education Ms. Clarice Charles.

According to Dr. Mitchell, the Government’s decision to replace the Supervisor of election who was commended by international organisations after the last general elections, continues to be suspicious. He said it is very unusual to change a supervisor of elections before they reach retirement age or to replace that person with a junior civil servant who is known to have been a political activist. The former Prime Minister also raised concerns that the replacement of senior officers in the Electoral Office is also a cause for concern as these officers would have been needed to give support to a new supervisor.

Hon. Bhola informed the meeting that he recently met with the Supervisor and is extremely troubled that there seems to be a lack of information on what is really happening with regard to the electoral process and apparent plans to make changes in the near future. He said the lack of involvement of political parties particularly the main opposition in the process also leave many unanswered question about the intention of the NDC Administration.

Concerns were also raised by the former Education Minister about the lack of public education on the new system which is supposed to be implemented in October 2010 and the many challenges that this system is likely to create.

The meeting concluded with a request from the Ambassador for the local Representative to hold discussions with the Supervisor of Elections in an effort to be updated on the proposed changes in the electoral process.


OFFICE OF THE LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION