OAS TO OBSERVE GRENADA ELECTIONS

Washington, DC
January 7, 1999

The Organization of American States is drawing up plans for a small team of observers to monitor general elections in Grenada on January 18, Assistant Secretary General, Ambassador Christopher R. Thomas, said on Thursday.

The decision came after Ambassador Denis Antoine, Grenada’s Permanent Representative to the OAS, formally presented a letter from his country’s Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Mitchell, inviting the election observation team. The Ambassador delivered the letter in a meeting Thursday with OAS Secretary General César Gaviria, Assistant Secretary General Thomas, and Mr. Ruben Perina, officer in charge of the OAS Unit for the Promotion of Democracy (UPD).

In the letter to the OAS chief, the Prime Minister requested the dispatch of a small group of observers "to monitor the electoral process and certify the results of the entire exercise."

Through the UPD, the OAS has conducted electoral observation missions in several of its member countries over the last few years.

******