Codes of conduct being honoured in the breach
THE radical departure from professionalism and the numerous reports of the removal, destruction and defacing of political campaign paraphernalia go to show that the codes of conduct for media houses and political parties are being honoured in the breach, Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon observed yesterday. He made the observation at his usual post-Cabinet media briefing at Office of the President, Shiv Chanderpaul Drive, in Georgetown.
Luncheon said Cabinet has been inundated with complaints of the destruction of posters, billboards and the like.
He asserted: “I don’t want to say it has continued unabated but, certainly, it has occurred and, certainly, it is continuing. Even as we speak, I am pretty certain that reports are being made about such overnight.”
Furthermore, Luncheon said complaints continue to be made about the use of the political platform by the contesting parties in ways that they, themselves, have complained are not consistent with the commitments made under the Code of Conduct.
“So on the parties’ side, the two major categories would be the destruction, defacement and the removal of electoral paraphernalia and the second would be the conduct of the activists on the platform,” he reiterated.
On a different matter, Luncheon said Cabinet noted the ranks of the external observers including, now the UNASUR team, which has been drawn heavily from Brazil, Venezuela, Paraguay, Ecuador and Suriname, not forgetting the Commonwealth team of external observers. Also, many of the local diplomatic and corporation agencies have applied and have been accredited as observers.
The HPS said Cabinet acknowledged the largely hitch-free conduct of the disciplined forces polling last November 21.
He said the campaign, itself, provided Cabinet with an opportunity to examine the conduct of the contesting parties, their supporters and the media.