Governor Confirms Commonwealth to Observe Cruise Port Referendum

His Excellency The Governor, Martyn Roper OBE confirmed today that the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA - UK) had been invited and has agreed to send an observer mission to the Cayman Islands for the forthcoming People’s Initiated Referendum on the cruise berthing facility. 
  
CPA UK regularly, in its role as secretariat for CPA's British Islands and Mediterranean Region, carries out and supports election missions across the Commonwealth. Since 2010, CPA UK has organised short-term Election Observer Missions (EOM) and Election Assessment Missions (EAM), and has supported a number of organisations in sourcing observers to participate in missions. They were last in the Cayman Islands in 2017 to observe the general election. The organisation is a signatory to the Declaration of Principles of International Election Observation and Code of Conduct for International Election Observers, signed at the UN in 2005.

Governor Roper commented: “I am very pleased the CPA (UK) has agreed to observe the referendum. CPA-UK is highly respected in electoral observation and brings lots of experience. International observation of elections and referendums is an important means of providing an independent assessment. Since this is the first people’s initiated referendum in the Cayman Islands, they will also help us to learn lessons for the future. The Cayman Islands has a good track record of organising free and fair elections and referendums and I want thank the Elections Office for all the excellent work they are doing to prepare for the referendum.