THE main political contenders have condemned the destruction of election campaign paraphernalia, as well as at least two of the smaller political parties, including the United Republic Party (URP).The ruling People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) executive member and former president, Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, is the most recent to come out against such acts.
“I think it is an act of desperation…I say to our comrades leave them alone….it is a kind of intimidation…they [the perpetrators] are doing this around the country. They are intimidating people,” he said at a news conference held at Freedom House on Wednesday.
According to the former president, all political parties ought to be free to campaign in their bid for the country’s leadership, ahead of the May 11 General and Regional elections.
Dr Jagdeo said, “These campaign people should be free to post their campaign paraphernalia and not have them destroyed. People should be able to campaign in every village, whether they get support in that village or not and not be intimidated, like our people were in Sophia.”
He further denounced the act as “dark-age politics” and urged that this is a culture that must be changed.
Meanwhile, an earlier statement from the alliance of A Partnership for National Unity and the Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) also condemned such actions.
“APNU+AFC condemns such behaviour, conduct and threats…we urge our supporters to remain calm and focused on the task at hand,” the party said.
The most recent report of the criminal act was in Region 3 (Essequibo Islands/ West Demerara), where four campaign billboards and 60 per cent of flags mounted by the PPP/C were lost on Monday night alone. The incident resulted in a report being made to the police, the fourth such report.
Crime Chief, Mr Leslie James, when asked about the police response to this matter – in light of official complaints fom at least three political parties – assured that all the divisions of the Guyana Police Force (GFP) have been alerted.
“Any report that we receive that campaign paraphernalia are damaged will be taken seriously. This is a position adopted by all the divisions, something all the divisions are alerted to,” he told the Guyana Chronicle in an invited comment yesterday.
He added that increased police patrols are part of the Force’s response.
“Patrols are part of our response and if during the patrols anyone is caught in the act [they] will be dealt with according to law, taken into custody and charges will follow,” the crime chief assured.
Meanwhile, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has repeated its warning, via public advertisements, against such transgressions. “The law on activities such as removing, damaging or defacing any election campaign material is clear: those acts are criminal.” (Vanessa Narine)