Tagman claims it worked for all major parties
ADVERTISING Agency Tagman has denied that it is the public relations firm for A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and reaffirmed that it remains non-partisan.
In a statement issued yesterday, Tagman acknowledged that it has “developed some products for APNU” but insisted that it has done work for other political parties in the past, including the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C). The PPP/C is concerned that Tagman, having done work for APNU, should not be contracted to manage the Media Centre of the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) as has been decided.
“This is the third consecutive election where we have been asked to produce products by opposition parties and run the GECOM media centre. In both instances, the PPP/C is convincing proof that Tagman has no influence or interaction with the counting or arrival of the results announced in the Media Centre,” said the company owned by Mr. Alex Graham.
The statement continued: “Tagman provides a service that is professionally delivered to whoever wishes to purchase its services.”
The marketing agency provided design services to the PPP/C, The United Force (TUF) and the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR). It said, while it had not been asked, since, to do related work for the PPP/C, it would do so if requested.
Tagman dismissed the claims as baseless as it has, reportedly, done work for various Government Ministries and agencies such as the Office of the President, over the last 16 years.
The PPP/C, on Wednesday, labeled as unethical and a breach of GECOM’s independence the decision to use Tagman as its media centre during the elections.
“This we view as a clear breach of all established principles of non-partisanship and can add to the process being compromised or interfered with. The PPP/C demands that GECOM reconsiders its decision to use a clear partisan PR outfit for its work which must always be overboard and beyond any suggestion of partisan influence. The PPP/C also calls on all stakeholders to take note of this development,” a PPP/C statement maintained.
It is understood that announcements of the elections results will be made by the Chief Elections Officer, while Press Conferences will be conducted by the GECOM Chairman in the Media Centre. The results that are to be securely delivered from the GECOM Database will be displayed and handled by a third party contractor.