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OAS: JAMAICA READY FOR ELECTIONS THIS MONDAY

KINGSTON, Jamaica— The Assistant Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) and Chief of the OAS Electoral Observation Mission in Jamaica, Albert R. Ramdin, said today that the electoral authorities have addressed and overcome the challenges presented by the damages inflicted by Hurricane Dean and that the nation is ready to hold its General Elections this Monday.

Ambassador Ramdin also welcomed the joint call made yesterday by the political parties for an immediate end to all acts of political violence. In this regard, the head of the OAS monitoring team noted that as Election Day quickly approaches, he hopes that “all social and political actors in the country, as well as the citizenship in general, will actively participate in the electoral process, heeding to democratic values and practices such as respect, tolerance and dialogue, rather than resort to acts of violence to resolve their differences.”

The OAS Chief of Mission urged Jamaican citizens to go to the polls on Monday in a peaceful and orderly manner, saying that “in a democracy, the vote is a privilege and a responsibility.” Ramdin added that the presence of international observers for Monday’s election “strengthens confidence in the country’s democratic process.” He underscored that the main purpose of the OAS Mission is to observe that elections are carried out in accordance with international norms that ensure the integrity of the process.

In the days leading up to the elections, the OAS has been meeting with different participants in the process, with the view of incorporating their concerns and comments in the verbal report that the Electoral Observation Mission is expected to present to the OAS Permanent Council in Washington on Thursday September 6.

The Assistant Secretary General met with electoral authorities, religious and civil society leaders, and representatives from the media including, Errol Miller, Chairman of the Electoral Commission of Jamaica; Sheila Nicholson, Executive Director of People’s Action for Community Transformation; and Reverend Karl Johnson, President of the Jamaican Council of Churches. He also held a series of meetings with members of the Diplomatic Corps based in Jamaica and the CARICOM Electoral Observation Mission.

The 38 OAS observers, who come from 13 different countries, have now spread out across the country, and they will monitor the voting in at least 42 of Jamaica’s 60 constituencies. Prior to their deployment, they completed an extensive training session, which included OAS observation methodology and the international code of conduct for observers, among other topics. During this exercise, the Director of Elections, Danville Walker, also briefed the OAS team on all aspects of the electoral process of Jamaica.

For more information, please contact Javier Montes. Telephone in Jamaica: (876) 407-9396.

Reference: EOMJAM2