INTRODUCTION

In my capacity as Chief of Mission, I am pleased to submit this verbal report on the findings of the OAS Electoral Mission to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

On October 3, 2005 the Secretary General of the Organization of American States received a request from the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines to send an Electoral Observation Mission to observe the General Elections scheduled for December 7, 2005.

In his reply of October 19, the Secretary General indicated willingness to deploy an electoral observation mission, subject to the timely receipt of sufficient external funds and following the signing of the customary legal agreements between the General Secretariat and the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The requisite legal agreements were signed at the Headquarters of the General Secretariat on November 10. In compliance with the provisions of Article 24 of the Inter-American Democratic Charter, an agreement was concluded on the privileges and immunities of the observers, while a second agreement related to the conditions of security, free access to information and full cooperation with the electoral observation mission.

Financial contributions to support the Mission were received from the governments of Brazil and the United States.

COMPOSITION AND ACTIVITIES OF THE MISSION

The OAS Electoral Observation Mission was comprised of five observers from four OAS Member States (Barbados, Colombia, Suriname, USA), and was present in the country between December 4 to 9, 2005.

On arrival, the Mission fulfilled a full program of courtesy calls, meetings and briefings with government officials and electoral authorities, and with representatives of political parties, civil society and the diplomatic corps.

The Mission met with and maintained informal coordination with the five member Electoral Observation Mission of CARICOM led by H.E. Philip Smith.

There was also contact and informal coordination with St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ national electoral observation group, the National Monitoring and Consultative Mechanism (NMCM).

The December 7 General Elections were contested by three political parties:

a. the governing party, the Unity Labor Party (ULP) led by Dr. The Honorable Ralph Gonsalves;
b. the party in opposition the New Democratic Party (NDP) led by the Honorable Arnhim Eustace;
c. a newly formed party, the Green Party, led by Mr. Ivan O’Neale, which fielded candidates in four constituencies.

The Mission arrived just prior to the conclusion of the electoral campaign. The tone of the campaign seemed heated but the Code of Conduct signed by the major political parties was in general observed.

In the period prior to the polling day, various issues had emerged, several of which were brought to the Mission’s attention during its program of meetings.

Issues included the enumeration and registration of new voters which the opposition considers to have been ineffectively conducted, leaving unresolved points relating to a large voters’ list which, due to the practice of continuous registration, was established as 91, 023 eligible voters, this in a population of some 110, 000.

In addition, constituencies which generated much pre-electoral analysis included East Kingston (seat of the leader of the opposing party) as well as the Southern Grenadines where it was thought that traditional voting patterns strongly favoring the NDP could be affected by migrant workers who now sought to vote in that constituency.

Another thorny issue raised by the opposition was the practice of registering voters at the private residence of Registration Officers which it was considered fostered a lack of transparency and created the potential for possible abuses in the registration process.

On Election Day, the Mission observed the voting procedures in 95 (45%) of the 225 polling stations, covering thirteen of fifteen constituencies. It observed all aspects of the voting process including the opening of the polling stations, voting throughout the day, the closing procedures at the polling stations, the preliminary count of the votes at the polling stations, and the transport of the results and the ballot boxes to Returning Officers of selected constituencies.

The Office of the Supervisor of Elections announced that the Unity Labor Party had won 12 seats and the New Democratic Party 3. This was the same outcome of the elections in 2001.

The Chief of Mission attended the swearing in of the Prime Minister and key cabinet members following the preliminary results of the count on December 8.

The Mission issued press releases to inform of its arrival on December 4 and following the preliminary count on December 8, at which time the Chief of Mission gave a press conference on the Mission’s preliminary findings.

RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

From its observations, the OAS Electoral Observation Mission concluded that the elections of December 7 proceeded without major incidents or systemic irregularities, confirming the commitment of the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines to the democratic process. Notwithstanding poor weather conditions, voters lined up at polling stations from early morning.

The following are among the salient features observed by the Mission:

1. The political parties undertook to ensure that the electoral process was efficiently and peacefully conducted. The active presence at the polling stations of party agents, particularly from the ULP and NDP, was testimony to this commitment. Cooperation between agents of different parties at the polling stations to ensure compliance with the electoral procedures was frequently observed.

2. Campaigning largely ceased on election day as required.

3. The active role played by the National Monitoring and Consultative Mechanism (NMCM) was evident, as it observed and facilitated the conduct of the electoral process in the fifteen constituencies and was observed in action on the Mission’s deployment routes.
4. The news media played an active role during the electoral process with commentary, information and coverage, although most of the print media is available only on a weekly basis.

5. Law enforcement played a positive role in contributing to the security of the polling stations and in ensuring the orderly and efficient conduct of the process.

6. The most significant factor observed during this electoral process was the electorate’s participation in the process.

The Mission expresses its satisfaction with the conduct of the elections and recognizes the work performed by the electoral authorities to ensure compliance with the Constitution, Electoral Law and relevant regulations.

Despite these efforts, the OAS electoral mission encountered some shortcomings in electoral procedures. However, the mission considers that these shortcomings did not jeopardize the transparency and outcome of the elections.

Recommendations will be made in the final report on the observation, with the aim of contributing to strengthening the electoral process.

Preliminary observations of the Mission include:

a. the need to analyze, streamline and manage the voters’ list and clarify the regulations relating to voter registration;
b. systematic civic education for the citizenry and enhanced training of electoral officers to ensure greater familiarity with voting procedures;
c. strengthening of the electoral office to enhance its independence; analysis of the positive role of the NMCM as local observers to contribute to the democratic process.

The OAS Electoral Observer Mission takes this opportunity to thank the Governments of Brazil and of the United States of America for their contributions to the Mission.

The Mission also expresses appreciation to the Government and People of St. Vincent and the Grenadines for the welcome accorded and the facilities offered for the conduct of its work; to the Director of the Office of the General Secretariat in St. Vincent and the Grenadines for the essential logistical and administrative support; to the Department of Democratic and Political Affairs of the General Secretariat for the technical and administrative support provided.

In conclusion, the electoral process just concluded in Vincent and the Grenadines contributes to the strengthening of democracy in the CARICOM region and across the Hemisphere.

The presence of the OAS Electoral Observation Mission reinforces the commitment of the Organization to contributing to the strengthening of democracy through the electoral process.

Likewise this exercise will enable the OAS to recommend activities that fortify democratic institutions, enhancing their credibility to the citizens.

Washington, D.C., December 15, 2005