The three member NGO coalition has released an official Election Day Observer report which lists among other electoral infractions, misconduct on the part of the Prime Minister. The report, which was released on Monday, was compiled By the Coalition’s members, the Evangelic Association, the Christian Council and the Chamber of Industry and Commerce. According to the document, St. Kitts Nevis Labour Party leader Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas caused disruption in Constituency 4 (Halfway Tree) during the voting process on January 25th. “The candidate appeared to have been fully participating in some of the altercations surrounding the presence of St. Pauls residents in election lines for constituency 4. Eye witness testimony affirm that the candidate was adamant that such St. Pauls residents who are actually residents in his home Constituency 6 should be allowed to vote regardless of the fact that they did not reside anywhere in Constituency 4. This disruptive presence By Dr. Denzil Douglas was responsible in large measure for the prolonged interruption of traffic flow in and out of Halfway Tree,” it read. It went on to say that, “Voters felt that instances such as this should not be allowed to happen and set a bad example for our people when the head of government is facilitating and advocating voter irregularities of this nature.” The report claimed that NGO Observers witnessed a conversation between Dr. Denzil Douglas and the military in which he berated them for their failure to collect voters from Constituency 6 in order for them to vote in Constituency 4 and 5. “The NGO Coalition is firmly of the view that no politician – even if he is Prime Minister – should conduct himself in such a manner.” Dr. Douglas went on the offensive during his first press conference of 2010, held on Wednesday, denying parts of the NGO Coalition Election Observer report. He especially denounced the report’s claim vis-Ã -vis a conversation between himself and any member of the Defense Force. “I want to make a very clear statement here this afternoon that the section of the report you [reporter] quoted from is not only false, it is malicious and deliberately so I believe, because if someone reported that the Prime Minister appeared to be disruptive what is so difficult for a member of the Coalition team to come and meet with me and say ‘Mr. Prime Minister this matter was reported By one of the NGO observers, could you give us any response as to why you were in Halfway Tree if you were seen speaking to a military officer- and that did not happen- why were you speaking to a military officer?’ “To simply take someone’s reporting which is false and a lie and put it into a document that appears to be a final document as a report of their assessment of the election as monitors is terribly, terribly bad.” Dr. Douglas reiterated his assertion of members of the NGO coalition being motivated By their individual or collective political agendas. “I want to say that the section you quoted from is false; it is malicious; and in my opinion it has been deliberately put as part of the political agenda of members of the coalition who seem to have a political agenda that they are pursuing for the PAM party that has lost the elections on January 25th,” Dr. Douglas said. The NGO report also spoke to “blatant violations of electoral regulations” including voters being allowed to take large handbags and cellphones into the voting booth. Voters are restricted By the electoral laws from taking these items into the polling stations. This alleged infraction, the report contends, suggests the “election officials were not as vigilant as they should have been”. NGO coalition observers were present at all polling divisions for the duration of the poll. In its recommendations of changes to the electoral procedures, the NGO coalition suggested “a serious review of the need for the presence of Defense Force personnel in riot gear toting M16 rifles” at polling divisions. It also alleged impropriety on the part of the Defense Force saying, “It was clearly observed By NGO Observers in Constituency 4 that military vehicles of the Defense Force were being used to transport voters from St. Pauls to polling stations in Constituency 4 and 5. This is an abuse of state assets and is certainly biased, given the fact that these voters appeared to be supporters of the ruling SKNLP. Such practice should be condemned and discontinued.” Recommendations were made to amend electoral laws to allow for persons registering to vote to provide proof of residency other than word of mouth in the hope that it would “eliminate voter irregularity as it related to voting in appropriate constituencies”. The NGO observer report’s overall conclusion that the election was conducted “in a free and fair manner in most instances” conflicted with its claim that, “Should the current system be allowed to continue it would make a mockery out of the presence of outside observer teams who may fooled into thinking that the elections are free and fair when they are really arriving in the federation well after the voter fraud has been committed By the issue of voter id cards.” Dr. Douglas belittled the coalition for not communicating with him before drafting a final report for dissemination as observer missions from the Commonwealth, Caricom and the OAS had done. “Observer teams from Caricom, OAS and Commonwealth observed the elections and met with me and discussed their preliminary reports and asked questions for clarification. I do not even know if they [NGO coalition] had the common courtesy to send a copy of their report – and it appears not even to be a preliminary report but a final report – to me the Prime Minister.”
