S.I.E.C WELCOMED DOMESTIC ELECTION OBSERVERS

The Solomon Islands Electoral Commission has welcomed a team of domestic election observers led by local NGO umbrella group, Development Services Exchange.

The Electoral Commission has accredited a team of six observers from DSE that will focus on Honiara and Guadalcanal on Election Day.

Chief Electoral Officer, Mr Polycarp Haununu says, domestic observation is a very important part of the electoral process and it is very pleasing to see that DSE has been able to put a team together.

The SIEC says it’s important that observer groups are completely independent from the Commission.

Mr Haununu explains, SIEC is not responsible for setting up observer groups as were claimed in some recent newspaper reports.

The SIEC understands that some donor agencies, including the European Union, made funding available for Domestic Election Observation projects but did not receive any applications.

Several members of the Honiara based diplomatic corps will also be involved in election observation in a number of locations throughout the country.