– prescribes social sanction, statutory coercion to certain media houses
EXECUTIVE member of the African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA), Tacuma Ogunseye, has found himself in trouble for controversial and provocative statements allegedly made on the grounds of race, but Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon is also holding the media culpable. Speaking at a post-Cabinet news conference at the Office of the President yesterday, Dr. Luncheon lashed out at the media for publishing the racially provocative and inflammatory statements from ACDA.

“Cabinet had two equal concerns. One of them, of course, has to do with the (ACDA) statement clearly playing on racial insecurity and incitement; and the bodies that have responded like the Ethnic Relations Commission or the political parties, religious bodies, repudiating this statement that came from the ACDA activist,” he said.

“I feel and some of my Cabinet colleagues feel that, equally important, was the looseness (and) lack of professional approach by media houses responsible for publicising this event,” Luncheon declared.

“I want to believe that, as time evolves, whether it is going to be self censorship or whether it is going to be statutory coercion, media houses will have to be held responsible for disseminating information of this sort. Last week I railed against Stabroek News for producing trash and nonsense when a simple editing effort would have caused or generated a different kind of comments from media critics. This week, same thing,” he said.

According to the HPS, the actions might be spawned out of an inexplicable commitment to putting Guyana in a negative light.

“Some people seem to feel that it is their God-given right to make Guyana appear to be different and to relish in the apparent failure and awkward behaviour of Guyanese,” Dr. Luncheon posited.
Ogunseye’s racially provocative comments at a community meeting last Saturday came as a political shocker with his declared threat of  “violent struggle in the streets” should the incumbent People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) return to power and refuses to share a new government with the parliamentary opposition.
Dr. Luncheon said Government will be defending the position it has always taken on various forums to abhor sordid and personality demeanors and expressions from politicians and the media.
“We draw to the public’s attention these attempts that we find objectionable,” Dr Luncheon said.