The Guyana-based Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat has accepted an invitation from the Trinidad and Tobago government to send observers to the country’s next general elections, likely to be held in August this year.
“The Secretary-General of CARICOM, Dr Carla Barnett, has accepted the invitation extended to the CARICOM Secretariat by Dr the Honorable Keith Rowley, prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, to deploy an election observation mission to oversee this year’s general elections,” Trinidad and Tobago’s Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) said in a statement.
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It said that Rowley had promised to invite a CARICOM delegation to observe the poll whenever it was called, when he addressed Parliament on December 9 last year.
The OPM said that the “correspondence was sent” to the CARICOM Secretariat on December 11, 2024, and that Barnett in a January 13, 2025, letter, accepted the invitation.
“The CARICOM Secretariat is fully prepared to undertake the necessary administrative arrangements for the deployment of a CARICOM election observation team to Trinidad and Tobago whenever we receive further information regarding the scheduling of the elections.
“We are honored to support the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and all member states holding elections in 2025, in continued efforts to uphold democracy, the rule of law and good governance within the Caribbean Community. We will do so to the best of our abilities,” Barnett wrote in the letter.
The OPM statement said the government remains committed to Trinidad and Tobago’s tradition of “free, fair, and transparent elections” and welcomed the decision of Caricom to accept the invitation to observe the election.
The main opposition United National Congress (UNC) has called for foreign observers for the general election to be held later this year.
The ruling People’s National Movement’s (PNM) second consecutive term of office ends in August, but it is widely expected that the polls could be held before that month, with Stuart Young, the minister of Energy, who is expected to replace Prime Minister Rowley in March, seeking a fresh mandate from the population. (CMC)
