BY MORRIS NAFU
Teasi Sanga, chairlady of the Solomon Islands Electoral Commission (SIEC), has officially announced the closure of the national joint election on Wednesday, April 24.
This declaration marks the conclusion of a crucial phase in the democratic process of the nation, with citizens exercising their right to vote for their chosen representatives.
Mrs Sanga made the announcement after SIEC successfully completed its final official announcements of election results with few constituencies, provincial wards along with Honiara City Council (HCC) wards.
She commend all participating organisations and individuals for successfully carrying out the first ever joint elections for both 50 national parliament seats, seven provincial assembly members and Honiara City Council (HCC) ward councilors excluding Western and Choiseul provinces.
Sanga highlighted the positive turn out of voters across the nation during polling day as citizens exercised their democratic right by casting their votes.
She acknowledged few setbacks in various logistical challenges and the complexities of organising a nationwide vote and that the SIEC are ready to welcome feedbacks from observers both international and local, from which they can improve and move forward.
“There are few feedback reports from observers that reached SIEC that shows positive feedback and we look forward receive more feedback reports from other observers,” she said.
“We will be looking forward to receive reports from the Observers reports as they will help us identify areas for improvement.”
She acknowledged stakeholders who have contributed in the successful election including international partners and donors, Australia Government, Australia Defence Force, New Zealand Government, NZ Defence Force, European Union, UNDP’s Strengthening the Electoral Sycle in Solomon Islands Project (SECSIP), International Foundation for Electoral System (IFES), International IDEA (Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance), Australian Electoral Commission, New Zealand Electoral Commission, media, national partners, Solomon Islands Government, observers, police and other service providers who have contributed during the course of the Election period.
