HEAL GUYANA, a registered civil society organization, is watchful for instances of misconduct among citizens, political activists and politicians as Election Day draws closer, and even in the post-election period.

The body told the Guyana Chronicle on Thursday that Guyanese in support of the various parties are encouraged to temper themselves and act in a law-abiding, responsible way, to allow the electoral process to properly unfold.

Founder of Heal Guyana, Sharon Lalljee-Richard, in recent engagements with President David Granger and Presidential Candidate for the People’s Progressive Party, Irfaan Ali, took note of various sentiments made by both of them, for a number of ‘peace building’ videos that Heal Guyana wants to develop.

Both politicians, according to Lalljee-Richard, has denounced the practices of race-hate, hate speech and violence as viable methods of expressing and influencing support for their respective political parties.

The recorded exchanges with the political leaders were in response to the organisation’s ‘Call for Peace and Unity’ initiative which seeks to foster a spirit of social cohesion and peace among all Guyanese, especially during the pre- and post-election period.
Heal Guyana quoted President Granger as saying, “There is no need for violence. Violence is not going to make you win the election. It is not going to increase your take of the electoral pie. It can only alienate or irritate people who might have been attracted to your party. I cannot see that a serious voter who supports the policies of a particular party… would be encouraged to intensify that support because the party is violent. Violence is stupid! You can see that in the amount of wars and conflicts around the world and it’s pointless in Guyana. I have lived through some periods of violence and there is no winner. All you have is a legacy of hatred and people remember these stories (some of them false) and that is used as a sort of legend to justify hating ‘the other’ group’”.

NO HATE
Within the context of social media, Heal Guyana said Mr. Ali stated, “The party (PPP/C) would like to see that all Guyanese understand what is at stake. All Guyanese make their decision and their choices based on facts, based on a plan, a programme, a vision, an understanding of where their life will be in the future, and do not react to each other or sentiments that are hateful because that only adds to the dilemma.” He also said, “We can be the best use to our party if we present our opinion, we present the facts, we present our message, in a way that is respectful, and in a way that draws people to it and does not turn people off.”

AVOIDANCE OF VIOLENCE
Lalljee-Richard said President Granger expressed that the credibility of the election is directly linked to the avoidance of violence. In advising his supporters of the APNU/AFC Coalition not to get involved in any violent situations or confrontations, he said, “Just avoid them and go about campaigning. Let’s have a good turn-out at election. Let’s have a credible election.”

She said Mr. Ali also expressed the long-term economic ramifications of poor conduct and civil unrest by saying, “If we fail to act in a way which promotes peace, investors’ confidence can be affected, the private sector can be affected, investors would look at us differently, democratic processes can be affected and this can have a great international impact on us.”

“We trust that the vociferous supporters of the two historically divided political parties, in particular, will see the wisdom in heeding the words of their leaders. We trust that they will not cause themselves to be liabilities to the parties they support, at this volatile time when victory is dependent on public and international scrutiny. We encourage citizens to be wary of fake online news, fake social media accounts and provocations of all kinds. Be your brother’s keeper and remain cognisant of your own conduct in the process,” remarked Lalljee-Richard.

She said those who are interested in accessing the audio and visual recordings of the two politicians mentioned above, can do so at ‘Heal Guyana’ on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube or LinkedIn.