Honiara, 19 April 2024 – The g7+ Election Observation Mission (EOM) presented today, at the press conference, a preliminary report on the observation of the joint election that was held in the Solomon Islands on 17 April 2024.
The g7+ Observers is led by Dr. Simon Sinai, Electoral Commissioner of Papua New Guinea, and its members comprised of Dr. Helder da Costa, General Secretary of g7+, Dr. Felix Piedade, Chief operating Officer of g7+, Mr. Agustinho da Cunha, National Director, Technical Secretariat for Electoral Administration of Timor-Leste, Mrs. Helche Silvester, Media and Communication Manager of g7+ and Mr. Agustinho Tavares, Policy Assistant of g7+.
The team observed the election campaign activities and voting day. On the election day, the g7+ EOM was divided into three teams and observed a total of 45 polling stations at the two provinces, the Capital City of Honiara and Guadalcanal. The team observed the opening, voting and closing.
The head of the delegation, Dr. Simon Sinai said, “We are grateful for the welcome that the g7+ mission has received from the Government of the Solomon Islands. Our presence here is a sign of deep solidarity and spirit of learning from each other”. He added that “We observed that the election in general was conducted at an atmosphere of free, peaceful and transparent manner, without major incidents on election day.”
Given the fact that this is the first joint election ever conducted in the country, the g7+ observers noted that the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission (SIEC) showed commitment, confident, impartially and professionalism in conducting the election. This was also demonstrated by the fact that the SIEC leadership and polling staff were approachable and cooperative to the g7+ observers.
Dr. Simon Sinai added that “g7+ team congratulates the people, for casting their votes, which contributes to the peaceful election in the Solomon Islands. This shows that the country is moving towards the right path to resilience.”
The layout at the polling stations observed, meet international practice by large in which all materials, polling staff, polling agents and observers were present. Despite delays in the opening of some of the polling stations visited, minor inconsistency in few polling stations, and heavy raining on election day, the turnout of voters in eagerly manner is commendable and reflects the collective commitment of the population to democracy.
This morning, the g7+ Election Observation Mission has submitted its preliminary report with recommendations aimed at future improvement to the SIEC. Two main recommendations that we highlighted, first is to invest more in civic education in the spirit of promoting democracy, strengthening institutions and build peaceful societies. Secondly, we suggest that there is a need for continued efforts in increasing the skills and knowledge through capacity building to ensure good practices, and consistency in managing the election activities.
The g7+ Election Observation Mission wish the above recommendations are considered for future improvement and looks forward to continuing collaboration with the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission.
Contact:
Helche Silvester
Media and Communication Manager,
The g7+ Secretariat, Dili, Timor-Leste
Helche.silvester@g7plus.org