TT elections officer for Antigua polls

TRINIDAD and Tobago’s Deputy Chief Elections Officer, Laurence Thomas, has been included on the nine-member Caricom observer mission to monitor the electoral system and processes and the conduct of the general elections in Antigua and Barbuda. The mission was invited by the government of Antigua and Barbuda and agreed to by Caricom. The elections will take place on Tuesday, March 23. The nine-member group is comprised of a three —member core group, which arrived in Antigua  last Monday, and the six member observer team, of which Thomas is a part. The latter will arrive in Antigua on Saturday. A statement from the Caricom Secretariat said eight members of the mission will be based in Antigua and one in Barbuda. While there, it will hold consultations with government and electoral officials, representatives of the business community and civil society and the media on various aspects of the electoral system including the preparations for the elections.

On the day of elections, the mission will monitor the voting process, the opening and closing of the poll and the counting of the ballots. It will then issue a preliminary statement on its observations and findings and will later prepare a report for submission to the Caricom secretary general. The mission will leave the country on Thursday, March 25. The other members of the mission are Dennis Smith, former chief elections officer, Barbados, as chief of the mission; Eugene Petty, programme manager Caricom Secretariat, coordinator; Mignon Bowen administrative assistant to the mission, Dr Bernard Nottage, Bahamas; Guadalupe Vargas, Belize; Judith Pestaina, Dominica; Clem John, Dominica and Lothar Boksteen of Suriname.