Pacific Islands Forum Election Observer Team for Announced

Pacific Islands Forum Election Observer Team for Nauru Election Announced

A free, safe and credible election is what the Pacific Islands Forum Electoral Team will be looking for when they observe the election in Nauru on July 9th.

The team begins arriving in Nauru over the coming days to begin their assessment of the preparations leading into polling day.

The team comprises representatives from three Forum countries and two staff from the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.

Mr. Elliot S Udui has been working with the Palau Election Commission since 1994 and is currently a member of the Palau Election Commission Board.

Mr. Boki Raga is Director Policy Planning with the PNG Electoral Commission and has been working on elections in PNG since 1986. Mr Raga specialises in election planning, implementation and evaluation.

Ms. Gail Owen has worked with the Australian Civilian Corps as Election Operations Support Officer for elections in PNG (2012) and Bougainville (2015). More recently, Ms. Owen was Education Sector Advisor to the World Bank assisting with the post-Winston cyclone response in Fiji.

The Forum Electoral Observation Team will be led by Mr Udui from Palau. The Team expects to work closely with the Commonwealth Electoral Observation Team that will also be in Nauru at the same time.

“Upholding the principles of good governance is in the best interests of the people of the Pacific region and that is what our observer teams are dedicated to doing. The independent Electoral Commission of Nauru has assured us full access to the proceedings and we all look forward to a fair and representative result,” said Dame Meg Taylor, Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.

The observer mission comes in response to an invitation from Nauru’s Electoral Commission and the Government of Nauru.

The team will observe the pre polling environment, polling, counting, announcement of official results, and post election environment. Their report will be shared with the Government of Nauru following the election.

ENDS

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