President of the Guyana Press Association, Nazima Raghubir, is a member of the Commonwealth Observer Mission currently in Trinidad and Tobago for the twin-island Republic’s General Elections, which takes place on Monday.

In a statement, The Commonwealth noted that Ms Raghubir is a seasoned media expert, and she has been joined by six other observers led by the former Foreign Affairs Minister of Malta Evarist Bartolo as part of the Observer Mission for the Trinidad and Tobago Elections.

“With expertise in electoral management, law, human rights and media, the Commonwealth group will provide an assessment of the election’s credibility, transparency, and inclusivity. They will assess the electoral process as a whole, and the country’s adherence to its own standards, international and Commonwealth values”, The Commonwealth noted.

Since their arrival last week in Trinidad and Tobago, the group has met numerous stakeholders, including political parties, independent candidates, the police, civil society groups, the media, regional observers and the diplomatic corps.

The mandate of the Observer Group, as set out in the Commonwealth’s Revised Guidelines for election observation, is to observe and evaluate the pre-election environment, polling day activities and the post-election period.

The Group has been divided into small teams and deployed to different parts of the country where they will observe electoral preparations and meet with local stakeholders in their respective locations.

On election day, they will observe the opening, voting, closing, counting and results management processes. Following the election, the COG will issue a preliminary statement on 29 April.

They will then compile a final report to be submitted to the Commonwealth Secretary-General Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, which will then be shared with relevant stakeholders and the public.

Through electoral support, the Commonwealth works to strengthen electoral democracy and election management bodies, institutions and processes.

This year mark’s the 100th year since Trinidad and Tobago held elections for the first time.

Related posts:

GPA President heads to Pakistan as part of Commonwealth Election Observer Mission Commonwealth Observer Mission arrives in Guyana Teixeira to be part of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK Observer Mission for UK Elections Guyanese journalist among Commonwealth Observers for Vanuatu Elections