HEAD of the Presidential Secretariat and Cabinet Secretary Dr. Roger Luncheon has slammed  the  Guyana Elections Commission’s (GECOM) Media Monitoring Unit (MMU)  for not giving the same attention, as far as he knows, to statements allegedly made by an APNU/AFC member in Berbice, as  against  those made by Former President Bharrat Jagdeo in Babu John.The MMU, in its first report, concluded that statements made by the Former President in March, on the occasion of the death anniversary of the Jagans, were ‘racially divisive.’ Dr. Luncheon said that this component of the unit’s first report has attracted Cabinet’s attention, and that Cabinet has since written to GECOM, the parent body of the unit, seeking clarification.
“Cabinet sought clarity from GECOM because the MMU is still a child of GECOM, GECOM does not have MMU operating independent of GECOM,” Dr. Luncheon explained.
He said that the intention is to obtain clarity from GECOM as to the judgement that the Former President’s remarks were racially divisive.
The Cabinet Secretary then noted Cabinet’s reflection of the MMU on its actions with regard to the former president, in the face of what he described as statements captured from TV programmes and submitted to police and GECOM about racial discriminatory, inciting statements made in Berbice on television by an APNU/AFC coalition member.
“It bewilders Cabinet somewhat that those incidents did not attract the same level of attention given by this media to this aspect of the MMU report, if they did address it, as compared to the attention given to Former President’s  statement,” Dr. Luncheon said.
He said that Cabinet is awaiting clarification from GECOM. (GINA)