INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
scheduled for 21 September 2024.The 15-member group was deployed by the Commonwealth Secretary-General, the Rt Hon Patricia Scotland KC,
following a pre-election assessment mission to the country and an invitation from the Election Commission of Sri Lanka, according to The
providing vital support to the processes and institutions of democracy across our member states, in line with the principles and aspirations
credibility of the electoral process, including the pre-election environment, voting procedures, counting and tabulation processes, as well
as the post-election environment following the announcement of results
Their findings will be presented in an interim report, followed by a final report with recommendations to further help strengthen future
eminent experts, drawn from across the Commonwealth, who will participate in this important assignment.The independent observer group will
Observers will adhere to the International Declaration of Principles for Election Observation, to which the Commonwealth was one of the
original signatories at the UN in 2005, to ensure the professionalism and credibility of election observation.At the end of the assignment,
the COG will submit a comprehensive report containing their observations and recommendations to the Commonwealth Secretary-General
This report will subsequently be made public and shared with the Government of Sri Lanka, the Election Commission, political parties, and
Commonwealth member governments, according to The Commonwealth of Nations.The Commonwealth Observer Group will be in Sri Lanka from 15 to 27
September and will be supported by a seven-member staff team from the Commonwealth Secretariat, led by Lindiwe Maleleka, Political Adviser
in the Electoral Support Section of the Governance and Peace Directorate.Members of the Commonwealth Observer GroupChairperson: HE Danny
Faure, former President of SeychellesThe Commonwealth Observer Group members, in alphabetical order by country name, are:Mr
Ian Hughes, Supervisor of Elections, Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Commission, Antigua and Barbuda
Hon
Allyson Maynard Gibson, Former Attorney-General and Minister for Legal Affairs, The Bahamas
Mrs
Josephine Tamai, Chief Elections Officer, Belize
Ms
Sharon Bhagwan-Rolls, Programme Manager: Pacific Women Mediators Network, Fiji
Dr
Tres-Ann Kremer, Regional Director-Caribbean, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, Jamaica
Ambassador Manoah Esipisu, Former Kenyan High
Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Kenya
Ms
Sara Naseem, Former Communications - Advocacy Manager, Transparency Maldives, Maldives
Hon
Maryan Street MNZM, Former Cabinet Minister, New Zealand
Dr
Aderemi Ajibewa, Former Political Director, ECOWAS, Nigeria
Mr
Mohammad Amir Wasim, Bureau Chief, Daily Dawn, Pakistan
Prof
Cynthia Barrow-Giles, Professor of Constitutional Governance and Politics, The University of the West Indies, Saint Lucia
Prof
Mandla Mchunu, Former Chief Electoral Officer, Electoral Commission, South Africa
Dr
Victor Shale, Governance and Elections Expert, South Africa
