A local development group, ISCA, with offices in PEI and Saskatchewan has officially announced this week it will be seeking delegates to serve as observers to the United Kingdom’s General Election in May. The mission will consist of two teams, one based out of London and the other based out of Edinburgh. “ISCA will provide professional training for the observers, accreditation, logistics as well as travel and accommodations in London and Edinburgh” says mission co-ordinator Lloyd Dalziel.
Mr. Dalziel has participated in election observations throughout the world with the United Nations, the European Union and co-ordinated ISCA’s, very successful, observation mission to the Scottish referendum last September. “On Election Day observers will visit and monitor polling stations throughout the UK in their assigned areas as well as observe the ballot count at the returning centres”, said Dalziel. Observers will also have a chance to tour many of the historic sites as well as learn a great deal about the current political system in the context of Britain’s rich parliamentary history, added Dalziel.
Many political observers believe the upcoming election is a pivotal one for the Cameron government and in fact for British democracy in general. An ongoing backdrop to this spring’s election will be the government’s difficult task, among others, of negotiating further devolution with the Scottish National Party, after the narrow loss by the Scottish independence movement in September 2014. The emergence of UK Independence Party and the future role of the UK in the European Union, will further shape the political landscape. “The upcoming UK election, is considered by many political observers, as the most important vote in a generation” says the mission co-ordinator, Lloyd Dalziel.
In September of 2014, ISCA-AIDC organized a successful observation mission to the Scottish Independence Referendum and had the largest international observation team on the ground for the historic vote. Dalziel sees one of the key attractions in participating as an election observer is to support the democratic process. “Canadians feel quite passionate about our democracy and the importance of supporting and bearing witness to other countries democratic experiences. It is also an opportunity to learn lessons from other jurisdictions throughout the world” said Dalziel. “While half of the 2014 observation team in Scotland came from across Canada, the team benefited from having observers from the United States, Ireland, and the Dominican Republic. The positive response to the Scottish observation mission was really amazing and so it came as little surprise when the organization began receiving inquiries regarding future observation missions.”
The ISCA-AIDC mission will offering a limited number of individuals the opportunity to participate as international election observers, and will provide participants with observer accreditation, training and co-ordinate accommodations and travel. Dates for the mission are May 3-10, 2015. For more information, those interested in participating, may visit www.isca-aidc.ca or email info@isca-aidc.ca