OEA instala misión observadora para comicios generales del próximo miércoles
Contexto Nodal:
Belice celebrará elecciones generales el próximo 4 de noviembre. Si bien los comicios parlamentarios se realizan cada cinco años, en este caso fue el llamado sorpresivo del primer ministro Dean Barrow quien el mes pasado disolvió el Parlamento y adelantó la votación. El nuevo primer ministro surgirá del partido que obtenga más representantes en la Cámara baja. El gobernante Partido Democrático Unido de Belice (PDU) aparece como favorito en los sondeos previos.
OAS deploys electoral observation mission to Belize
The electoral observation mission of the Organization of American States (OAS/EOM) to the November 4 general elections in Belize began its deployment on Wednesday.
The delegation, headed by Ambassador Jacinth Henry-Martin, chief of staff to OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro, is comprised of 13 observers from 11 countries (Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, El Salvador, France, Mexico, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States). The first members of the mission arrived in Belize on October 27.
The mission will focus its observation on electoral organization and other issues in the electoral process. It will also gather information about the status of the recommendations made in the last OAS/EOM to Belize in 2012.
Henry-Martin and her team will be meeting with electoral authorities, representatives of political parties, government officials, and members of the media and civil society organizations, amongst other stakeholders, to discuss perspectives on the electoral process.
Following a training session, members of the OAS /EOM will be deployed in the field and the mission expects to have a presence in many of Belize’s six electoral districts. On election day, observers will visit polling stations across the country at every stage from the opening of the polls to the counting of votes and the publication of results.
This is the second time the OAS has observed elections in Belize, following the mission in 2012. The day after the election, the OAS/EOM will present its preliminary findings in a press conference and will subsequently present a report to the Permanent Council of the Organization in Washington, DC.
