Pull quote: ‘… we are going to be totally abhorrent… We are going to take strong measures against those who violate our constitution’
WITH General Elections scheduled to be held sometime this year, President Jagdeo yesterday warned that there will zero tolerance for any acts of violence.
Addressing senior and junior officers of the Guyana Defence Force at the opening of a two-day Annual Officers’ Conference, the President said “we are going to be totally abhorrent… We are going to take strong measures against those who violate our constitution.” He said the Commissioner of Police, Henry Greene and the Chief of Staff of the GDF, Commodore Gary Best have already been apprised.
He said too the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) has now been vested with the powers to disbar political parties that use people’s gender, religion and race as campaigning tools.
Calling on the officers to set their sights on the bigger vision for Guyana, and not allow any distraction, the President urged that in 2011, dubbed `Election Year’, they must break with the expectation of the past, pointing out that globally people always think that election year is characterized by violence.
Remarking that “they come to think of Guyanese in that way and you need to change that perception,” the President reminded that the change of perception was started in 2006 “and we must show that it is not a fluke, that this country can uphold rigorous debates, strong decent disagreements but at the same do so in the context of respect for democratic institutions.
And, we must do so with an understanding that we must not harm the power of prospects, the future prosperity because when the dust settles every Guyanese citizen has to go back to getting a house, building their house, getting a car or a secured job, caring for their children, which are all the day to day things that accumulate wealth and ensure prosperity at the family level, he added.
Commenting on the ERC, and the additional powers in this Election Year, to disbar political parties that use people’s gender, religion and race as campaigning tools, the President said “we must never allow that to happen in this country, that people should feel dehumanized and demeaned because at election time they seem to be in characterizing camps because of their political beliefs.
“We must become totally intolerant to this, and if there are some who think that they can use this to create violence… we are going to come down hard on them,” he said pointing out that the creating of violence is done by persons who are orchestrated to do so.
This country, the children who are our future deserve better than this and the President vowed that the Government will work aggressively to ensure they deliver “very competitive elections” and in a manner that respects the people of this nation.