MSG Secretariat observes Vanuatu Provincial Elections

This was following a formal invitation by the Vanuatu Government through the Vanuatu Electoral Office.

The Acting Director General George Hoa’au, said, “We are indeed grateful to the Government of Vanuatu for the invitation extended to the MSG to participate in observing the provincial elections. This is the first time for the Secretariat as international observers, to participate to observe elections at the provincial level. We consider it as an opportunity to get involved as our aim is to contribute to the overall strengthening of the electoral system and promoting greater democracy in Member countries”.

In the past, the MSG had observed national elections in Vanuatu during the 2016 Snap Elections and the 2020 National General Elections. On each occasion, detailed reports had been produced and submitted to the Government of Vanuatu with recommendations.

“We understand that Vanuatu is in a transition period towards integrating ID card and electoral card system into an electronic voting system, and we are excited to be able to observe excellent improvement to this electoral system,” Hoa’au added.

Hoa’au congratulated the team for their commitment in ensuring that the Observer Mission was a success.

Due to time constraints, the team was deployed to observe the election in nearby constituencies which included Efate Constituency, Lelepa/Moso constituency, Nguna/Pele Constituency and Emau Constituency.

In alignment with the MSG Secretariat’s election handbook and practice, the teams also observed the pre-election and the post-election (counting) periods to ensure a holistic observation of the election.

The Election Observation activity has been part of the Secretariat’s work under the Political and Security Affairs (PSA) Programme since 2014, led by Ilan Kiloe.

Photo supplied MSG Secretariat Caption: Large crowds gathered at the Polling Station in Teouma during the Vanuatu Provincial Elections on 12 May.