Caricom To Monitor Referendum

GEORGETOWN, Guyana — The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat will mount an Observer Mission to St Vincent and the Grenadines when nationals of this CARICOM Member State vote in a National Referendum for the approval of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Constitution Bill, 2009 on 25 November 2009.

The Referendum is the first of its kind to be held within the CARICOM sub-regional grouping; the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States.

The Community’s presence for this historic event in the Region is being supported by the Government of Spain through the AECID, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation. This support forms part of Spain’s undertaking earlier this year to deepen its cooperation with CARICOM.

The Observer Mission to St Vincent and the Grenadines follows a practice of fielding CARICOM Electoral Observer Missions to Member States. This is regarded as critical to the Community’s efforts to foster democratic principles and the maintenance of good governance in CARICOM.

The presence of officials from the CARICOM Secretariat, was requested by the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and will allow for observation and documentation of the process, to be used in the official and historical records of the Community. These records will then serve as a point of reference for future, similar activities.

St Vincent and the Grenadines was a British territory from 1783 until it gained independence in 1979. This CARICOM Member State has had the same Constitution since independence.