Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 20, 2020 — With growing signs that the June 5, 2020 General Election would not be contested on an even playing field, SKNLP Deputy Political Leader Hon. Marcella Liburd has called for the presence of election observers to ensure that the process is free and fair and free from fear.
She pointed out that the election will be held under the unprecedented circumstances of a State of Emergency which grants to the police and security forces broad powers of discretion in relation to arrest and detention. The SKNLP has been calling for all political parties to come together through its representative on the Electoral Commission to agree on a plan for the conduct of the polling process.
“I am therefore calling on civil society to come together and to consider the possibility of organizing a Domestic Citizen Observer Group that can apply for accreditation to monitor the election process. This is a practice that has been allowed elsewhere,” said Liburd.
She also pointed to the torching of two SKNLP constituency offices in Old Road and West Basseterre, the vandalizing of the Constituency Office in East Basseterre on three occasions, the destruction of campaign billboards in three constituencies, and the attempt by the Supervisor of Elections to leave with a ballot box in his car during the Nevis by-election without representatives of political parties present.