Isle of Man’s Tynwald president to lead vote watchers
Stephen Rodan
(CNS Elections): Stephen Rodan, the president of Tynwald, which is the parliament of the Isle of Man, will be heading the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association’s election observer mission to Cayman to watch over the historic change in the local election process from multi-voting to ‘one man, one vote’ in single-member constituencies. Expected to arrive over the weekend, the observers include political analyst Amin Rabitsch, legal analyst Anne Marlborough, CPA UK election coordinator Mariam El-Azm, as well as short-term observers CPA Caribbean Aurjul Wilson from Anguilla and Akilah M K Nisbett from St Kitts and Nevis.
Rodan’s post as president of the Isle of Man’s parliament is akin to the Cayman Islands’ Legislative Assembly’s position as speaker. He will head a six member team from the UK and around the region. This will be his second time leading an observers’ delegation after heading up the team that observed the British Virgin Islands elections in 2015. It will be the second time a delegation has observed a Cayman election.
“‘It is important that national elections, wherever they are held, are seen to be free, fair, and above-board. A team of independent outside observers is a good way of doing that,” Rodan said in a release. “It is important to the people of the Cayman Islands that they have confidence in the democratic process and their election result.”
The delegation will produce an interim report in a matter of days after the national ballot and then a full report within two months. “Our Report to the Cayman Islands authorities will, I hope, be used to strengthen their democracy for the future,” he added.
While here in Cayman, the delegation will assess the electoral process, ensure procedures meet international standards of political democracy and professional competency and that they are conducted in an impartial and transparent manner. The team is expected to meet the local press on Monday .
Following that, CNS will publish the details of how the public can speak with the delegation.
Category: Election News
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