Former PM leads observers to Seychelles elections [1]
Friday, November 27, 2015 - 16:59
Tonga’s Former Prime Minister Lord Sevele will lead a Commonwealth Observers Group to the Seychelles Presidential Election that will be held on December 3-5.
The observer group will consider pre-election; Election Day and the immediate post Election Day environments. On Election Day, they will observe the voting process, vote counting procedures and the announcement of results and assess these processes against the backdrop of international standards for democratic election to which Seychelles has committed.
Susana Faletau, another Tongan and Former CEO of the Ministry of Justice, will join the nine-member group.
The Observers include Alvin Smith, former Speaker of the House of Assembly and Vice-President of the Senate of the Bahamas; Mahendra Ved Vice President Commonwealth Journalists Association and Chairperson CJA India; Jane Michuki former chairperson Institute for Education in Democracy and Advocate of the High Court of Kenya; Mark Ramkerrysingh, Commissioner, Elections and Boundaries Commission of Trinidad and Tobago; and Deborah Ossiya, Gender Human Rights and Governance Specialist of Uganda.
Pricilla Isaac, Zambia's Director of Electoral Commission and Kenneth Abotsi Ghana's Peace and Security Expert as advance observers.
Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma announced the group will be deployed before the election after an invitation from the Seychelles Electoral Commission.
"This election will be an opportunity for Seychelles to further consolidate its electoral process. Peaceful and credible elections are a reflection of people’s collective determination and will. Commonwealth observers will be deployed to witness and observe the elections and to support Seychellois efforts towards strengthening and embedding democratic good practice.”
The mission will function with impartiality and independence and will be guided by the standards enunciated in the International Declaration of Principles for Election Observation to which the Commonwealth is a signatory to.