Chief Elections Officer of the Electoral Department of Saint Lucia Herman St. Helen will be part of a delegation selected to observe elections in Suriname.Â
Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have committed to supporting Member States, on their request, by providing an independent, impartial and honest assessment of the preparations for and conduct of General Elections. In this context, the Government of Suriname invited the Caribbean Community to deploy a CARICOM Election Observation Mission (CEOM) to observe the conduct of General Elections to be held on 25 May 2025.
In response to the invitation, the CARICOM Secretariat has deployed a nine-member team to observe the Elections in the Republic of Suriname.
The CEOM is headed by Ms. Dora James, Supervisor of Elections in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Other members of the team are:
- Mr. Alrick Daniel, Member of the Electoral Commission of Antigua and Barbuda;
- Mr. Harrison Thompson, Parliamentary Commissioner of The Bahamas;
- Ms. Debra Patricia Hughes, Member of the Electoral and Boundaries Commission of Barbados;
- Mr. Clement Rohee, Commissioner, Guyana Elections Commission;
- Ms. Rose Therese Georges, Counsellor in the Electoral Office of Haiti;
- Mr. Herman St. Helen, Chief Elections Officer of the Electoral Department of Saint Lucia;
- Ms. Brendalyn Henry, Regional Manager, Electoral Office of Jamaica; and
- Ms. Lena Champa Sahadeo, Deputy Chief Election Officer of Trinidad and Tobago.
- The CEOM is supported by three (3) members of the CARICOM Secretariat:
(i) Ms. Shae-Alicia Lewis, Programme Manager, Community Relations;
(ii) Mr. David Allens, Project Officer, Foreign and Community Relations; and
(iii) Ms. Denise Morgan, Stenographer II, Foreign and Community Relations.
The core team, comprising the Chief of Mission and the CARICOM Secretariat support staff, arrived in Suriname on Monday, 19 May 2025 while the remaining members of the Mission arrived in Suriname between 21 and 22 May 2025.
Since the team’s arrival, a courtesy call has been paid on His Excellency Albert Ramdin, Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Business and International Cooperation. The team has also had the opportunity to familiarise itself with some of the security measures in place to ensure the safety of the elections through a visit to the Command Centre.
The CEOM’s engagement over the past few days was intended to provide an understanding of the pre-election environment. The team will also monitor the Polling Day activities, including the opening, conduct, and closing of the polls through to the tabulation of the ballots and declaration of the results. Throughout the Mission, the CEOM will collect qualitative and quantitative data regarding the entire electoral process, including the actions and conduct of election officials, political actors, and other stakeholders, to assess the extent to which they contributed to the overall electoral environment.