OAS to observe snap general elections in Dominica, announces PM Roosevelt Skerrit

Dominica: An Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) has been deployed by the Organisation of American States (OAS) to conduct the upcoming snap general election in the nation. The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica, Dr Roosevelt Skerrit met with the representatives of the organisation on December 4, 2022.

Prime Minister Skerrit, while recalling the courtesy call by OAS representatives, said, “I welcomed representatives of the Organization of American States (OAS) election observer mission for a courtesy call at the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) on Saturday.”

The OAS mission is led by former Prime Minister of the Bahamas, Perry Christie.

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit highlighted that in the interest of transparency in the electoral process, the Government of Dominica invited observer missions from The Commonwealth Secretariat, the Organization of American States (OAS), the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Latin American Council of Electoral Experts (LACEE) to monitor the December 6 general elections.

The OAS has informed that for this mission, it has deployed 16 experts and observers from ten different countries of the Caribbean region. Furthermore, the organisation stated that it would monitor areas including electoral technology, electoral organisation and registries, electoral justice and the political participation of women.

The representatives have been deployed since November 29, 2022. The EOM will work in collaboration with government officials, political candidates, electoral authorities, as well as representatives of civil society and other relevant stakeholders.

Earlier this year, OAS observed general elections in Grenada on June 23, 2022. At that time, the Permanent Representative of Grenada, Yolanda Smith, signed an agreement with the Secretary General of the hemispheric institution, Luis Almagro. Following this, the Organisation of American States (OAS) observed the snap general elections in the Federation of St Kitts and Nevis, conducted on August 5, 2022.