Senior Reporter
kay-marie.fletcher
@guardian.co.tt
The United National Congress (UNC) is satisfied with the team of Caricom observers that will oversee Monday’s General Election.
Previously, the party raised concerns about the Caricom team’s integrity and its relationship with the Government, pointing to a conflict of interest. According to the party, the wife of former attorney general Reginald Armour serves as the assistant general secretary of Caricom.
A six-member Caricom contingent, led by Chief of Mission Ian Hughes, arrived in the country on Monday. Their first order of business included meetings with political parties such as the UNC and Gary Griffith’s National Transformation Alliance (NTA), as well as the EBC.
Immediately after the 90-minute closed-door meeting, UNC’s attorney Darrell P Allahar shared the party’s two main concerns: a lack of confidence in the EBC’s readiness for the upcoming election and the limited public access to reports from Caricom observers in previous elections.
Allahar said, “So far, we’re quite happy with the meeting that we had with the six professionals. Some of them are actually chief election officials in their own countries, so they seem to know what they’re doing. They wanted to find out from us our views on certain things, which we gave to them, and they will do that with everybody.”
Hughes also told Guardian Media he doesn’t believe there is any bad blood over UNC’s past criticism and said the party never even brought up the matter of Armour’s wife with them.
Hughes said, “It went well. I thought it was frank, open discussion and we look forward to going to some of the political rallies and continuing our work here as observers ... This is election. There are some things that are said during an election cycle, and we, as independent observers, are mindful of the fact that it is an election cycle; certain things are going to be said whether true or not, and we just continue to do our work.
“Within families, people would have their challenges, their issues, and as mature persons, you sit and you discuss and you come to an amicable solution, discussions, and that’s really what we had this morning–open, free, fair–and I could understand why they would have made some of the remarks they would have made in the public .”
Regarding UNC’s concerns about the observers’ reports, Hughes said the reports are available and will be made accessible to all stakeholders.
He said more officials from the observers’ team are expected to arrive in the country soon.
In a release yesterday, EBC also shared that it met with the Caricom observers’ team.
According to EBC, the meeting was “constructive, fostering mutual understanding and reinforcing a shared commitment to transparent and credible electoral processes. The dialogue was marked by openness, collaboration, and a shared goal of ensuring free, fair, and peaceful elections.”
It said, “Discussions were mainly focused on the commission’s comprehensive preparations for the upcoming elections, including initiatives in voter education, the training and selection criteria for returning officers and polling day staff, and the identification of accessible venues for polling stations.”
The EBC stated that special voting procedures, as well as protocols for the counting of votes and the timely announcement of results, were also reviewed.
The observers’ team was apprised of the commission’s positions regarding matters currently and previously raised in the public domain.
“They reiterated their role was to observe and learn. At the conclusion of the meeting, both parties reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining open lines of communication and ongoing cooperation as the nation prepares for Election Day on Monday, April 28, 2025,” the EBC added.
Griffith also told Guardian Media that NTA is quite confident that this team of observers has the experience and the ability to ensure close monitoring of what is taking place and assure the country that the polls will be free and fair.
Like UNC, Griffith said he expressed the need for the observers to monitor marginal seats, including St Joseph, Tunapuna, San Fernando West, and Sangre Grande.
He shared his concerns with the team about campaign finance reform, expressing his belief that it could lead to the undue influence of businessmen and the involvement of “questionable elements” supporting candidates.