No Vincentians part of elections observation team – OAS chief

The Chief of the OAS Electoral Observer Mission that is here to monitor tomorrow’s general elections has emphatically denied that there are any Vincentians employed as part of the team.

Jacinth Henry-Martin refuted the recent allegations at a consultation meeting with members of the local media on Saturday, December 5.{{more}}

“I want to guarantee you that there is no one on the team… who is from St Vincent,” Henry-Martin insisted.

“It just isn’t done!”

Henry-Martin, who is a national of St Kitts & Nevis, said that the OAS has conducted over 200 such missions within member states — with this being the sixth mission to St Vincent and the Grenadines.

She further pointed out that it is against OAS rules and regulations to employ individuals as part of observer missions for general elections in the same countries that they reside in or are citizens of.

“We do not in any way substitute ourselves… for local actors in the game.”

Other members of the observer mission included Paul Spencer from Antigua and Barbuda, Melene Glynn from Trinidad and Tobago and Ian Edwards from Jamaica, among others.

The 13-member team also includes persons from Argentina, Mexico, Ecuador, Guyana, Barbados and the USA.

In the Friday, December 4, edition of SEARCHLIGHT, it was reported that the public relations officer to the New Democratic Party (NDP), Vynnette Frederick, had lied about the composition of observer groups to the December 9 general election.

In a Facebook post, Frederick stated: “We have no difficulty with election observers from everywhere…as a matter of fact we think they should be here on the ground observing for weeks before the election actually takes place, but when the observers include ELLSWORTH JOHN AND CLARE KEIZER…. Ello yuh tink we doltish or what? #observetheobservers #thisisnotagame #weready #pressgas.”

Both Clare Keizer, editor of SEARCHLIGHT, and Ellsworth John, ambassador of St Vincent and the Grenadines to Mexico, Peru, Costa Rica, CARICOM and the Organization of East Caribbean States, denied this accusation, pointing out that they are not eligible for such posts, being Vincentian citizens. (JSV)