Vanuatu officials thank election observers for their partnership and commitment to good governance.
Vanuatu officials thank election observers for their partnership and commitment to good governance.
Political campaigning in Vanuatu reached a fever pitch yesterday, with the tooting horns of motorcades, chanting supporters and crowds listening attentively to candidates’ final persuasions, before the midnight gong signalled the official end of the campaign period.
Image
Now with election day less than 72 hours away, Commonwealth observers join other international groups across Vanuatu’s 65 inhabited islands, to witness the final preparations for polling on Friday.
Since their arrival last Saturday, the Commonwealth Observer Group has visited rallies and met with women and youth groups, political parties, academics, senior electoral officials and the media.
Observers also had an audience with President Baldwin Lonsdale and Prime Minister Sato Kilman. Both leaders expressed their appreciation to the Commonwealth for the presence of election observers.
Today at a briefing with the Electoral Commission, regional and international observers were given an insight into the challenges facing the authorities in the administration of the election.
Image
“We had to work with a team of less than ten staff to be able to see this process to fruition, and to have a government of the republic of Vanuatu,” Acting Director General of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Cherol Ala told observers.
In an emotional speech she described the extraordinary circumstances that led to the collapse of the government and the calling of early elections, as 14 members of parliament were jailed for bribery.
She said: “In the last three year, this young democracy has undergone a lot of instability, where we had to see that the principles of good governance, the principles of democracy are upheld in this country. As a young nation we try to do what we have to do to uphold the rule of law; and this political instability, this political stalemate led the president of the Republic of Vanuatu to dissolve Parliament on the 24th of November.”
Praising the observers’ commitment, she added: “I would like to extend our sincere gratitude to our partners, who are always by our side in good times and bad times. You have demonstrated that we are not a faraway country that no one recognises, but we are part of a community. The testament is that you are here today to observe our snap general election. This shows a commitment of the international community to good governance.”
Today the Commonwealth observers travelled to the islands of Santo and Tanna. The rest of the group remained in Efate which is home to capital city Port Vila.
“We have had great co-operation from the people of Vanuatu in gaining a clear picture of the pre-electoral environment,” said Chair of the Commonwealth Observer Group Hubert Ingraham.
“We have been in touch with other observer groups and have carefully mapped out the areas that we will be visiting on election day. We understand the gravity of this election and we want to assure Vanuatu of our support,” he said.
Notes to editors:
The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 53 independent and equal sovereign states home to 2.2 billion citizens. Commonwealth election observers are selected by the Commonwealth Secretary-General and are supported by a team from the Commonwealth Secretariat. Commonwealth observers take an independent, impartial and public view on the integrity of an electoral process. Since 1980, the Commonwealth has observed more than 130 elections in 36 countries.
Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma sent a team of independent observers to Vanuatu on 13 January, at the invitation of the Government of Vanuatu. The five-person Commonwealth Observer Group is led by former Prime Minister of The Bahamas Hubert Ingraham.
Get the latest news and updates, statements and multimedia
Social media
Join the conversation online: @commonwealthsec #VanuatuElections #CommonwealthElections
