COMMONWEALTH & CARTER OBSERVERS FOR G.E. ALSO

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The new Prime Minister announced today that  his administration has invited international election observers to join those from CARICOM who will be in this country for the General Election on April 28th.   This follows a call for international observers from Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar.   The Prime Minister says  government has learnt from history.   Juhel Browne reports.

Transcript

00:00Trinidad and Tobago's new Prime Minister, Stuart Young, said during his first post-cabinet

00:05media briefing that Thursday marked the second cabinet meeting since he and his ministers

00:10took their oaths of office on Monday.

00:13The new Prime Minister then referred to his announcement on Tuesday that the 2025 general

00:18election shall take place on April 28th.

00:22We as a government and certainly as a party intend to have free and fair elections as

00:29we've always had and as the EBC has always carried out in Trinidad and Tobago.

00:34But we learn from our mistakes, we learn from history, meaning that we see every time a

00:40particular party loses an election in Trinidad, they look for every excuse as to why it is

00:46they've lost and they run to the courts, etc.

00:49Prime Minister Young was responding to opposition leader Kamala Prasad Mbassa's letter to him

00:53on Wednesday in which she wrote that despite the government's invitation to CARICOM observers,

00:59the opposition strongly believes that independent, non-Caribbean international observers are

01:05necessary to ensure a free and fair electoral process.

01:09Prime Minister Young referred to what he called a spurious allegation.

01:13And I'm referring to former Attorney General Reginald Armour and the fact that his wife

01:17now works at CARICOM is completely ridiculous but not surprising.

01:22So we have invited CARICOM and CARICOM is on its way for April 28th.

01:27And Prime Minister Young then announced that international observers have also been invited.

01:32Before I saw the letter from the leader of the opposition, I had also dispatched an official

01:39letter as the Prime Minister to the Right Honourable Baroness Patricia Scotland, King's

01:44Council, Commonwealth Secretary General, requesting that the Commonwealth Secretariat provide

01:51observers as well to Trinidad and Tobago's election.

01:55We will invite the Carter Centre as well to send people here to come and observe free

02:00and fair elections.

02:02The Prime Minister said he instructed the Foreign Minister on Thursday to officially

02:06invite the observers from the US-based Carter Centre.

02:10Jule Brown, TV6 News.

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