The Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Commission has announced that the Supervisor of Elections, Ian S Hughes has been appointed as the Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM’s) Chief of Mission to the Parliamentary Elections in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago on April 28, 2025.
The status of Chief of Mission is that of an independent contractor, who will provide leadership and guidance to the CARICOM Election Observer Mission within the context of the Terms of Reference for the mission and the functions of the Chief of Mission as outlined in the Chief of Mission Handbook.
Furthermore, as part of his responsibilities, Hughes and his team will observe the final preparations prior to the elections, hold discussions with stakeholders on the progress towards the process and on the day of elections, observe the electoral process and collect qualitative observations regarding preparations, comportment of the electoral officials and political actors and the overall political environment.
In the post-election phase, he will lead the CARICOM team in observing and assessing the outcome of the elections and the initial immediate impact on the social and political environment.
At the end of the mission, Hughes will issue an official statement on behalf of CARICOM on the process as well as prepare and submit the Report of the CARICOM Observation Mission to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago National and Parliamentary Elections.
Hughes expressed his gratitude to the CARICOM organization for the trust and confidence that they have placed in his expertise and looks forward to playing a critical role in capturing the context of the upcoming electoral process in Trinidad and Tobago.
This is not the first time that the Supervisor of Elections has served as part of a CARICOM Observer Mission. He was appointed as the CARICOM’s Chief of Mission to the 2021 Elections in the Bahamas and also served as member of the Observer team during the Parliamentary Elections in Turks and Caicos in 2021, Belize and Suriname in 2020 and Haiti in 2015.
