Hon Chris Carter
Foreign Affairs Spokesperson

18 January 2010
Media Statement

Chris Carter to lead Caribbean election monitoring team

Commonwealth Secretary General HE Mr Kamalesh Sharma has asked Labour’s Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, Chris Carter to lead an election team to monitor the general election to be held in St Kitts and Nevis. The election in the small Caribbean state is scheduled for the 25 January. The last election in 2004 was plagued by allegations of corrupt practices.

Chris Carter and his 5 person team will spend 10 days in St Kitts and Nevis meeting political parties and individuals involved in the run up to the general election. The team under Chris Carter’s leadership will then write a report after Election Day to be presented to the Secretary General by the end of January. He will also spend a day in New York meeting with the New Zealand mission, former Prime Minister Helen Clark, and being briefed by UNDP Caribbean specialists as part of his election brief.

“As a New Zealand politician I am really honoured that the Commonwealth Secretary General has asked me to lead this team. The Commonwealth does an excellent job in promoting democracy and good governance among its diverse 54 country membership. Our presence in St Kitts and Nevis is a tangible commitment by the Commonwealth to support local democracy.”

Chris Carter said he agreed to lead the election team because he was keen to learn more about the region.

Other than sporting events, contact between New Zealand and the island nations of the Caribbean have been limited. “The presence of other Caribbean officials and politicians in the team will give me, as Labour’s Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, useful contacts and an insight into a region of the world which has been in the spotlight following the recent devastating earthquake in Haiti.”

Chris Carter has had previous experience in the role of election monitoring. He was a member of the Commonwealth Team that monitored South Africa’s first multiracial election in 1994, was an official observer in the US Presidential election in 2000, and led the large New Zealand election team which monitored the Solomon Island’s election in 2002.

All costs related to Chris Carter’s role in the Caribbean and New York will be met by the Commonwealth Office.

ENDS

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