AFC hopes elections don’t descend into “gutter kind of vendetta”

While the Alliance for Change (AFC) is hoping that in the period leading up to the May 11 General and Regional Elections, a respectful environment among the contesting parties exists, it is still preparing for the “worst case scenario”.

AFC executive member, Cathy Hughes

Political parties are normally requested to sign a Code of Conduct by the Guyana Elections Commission. The document serves as guiding principles for the behaviour expected from politicians during their rallies and up to Election Day. However, AFC Executive member, Cathy Hughes disclosed yesterday that she has witnessed in the past, some of the most vile, personal attacks on members of political parties, even though a Code of Conduct was signed by parties. It is for this reason, Vice Chairman Moses Nagamootoo asserts, that the AFC will be in touch with international bodies to ensure that election campaigns do not descend into “verbal abuse, personal attacks, and a gutter kind of vendetta.” The AFC executive members were asked by Kaieteur News to state whether it believes the Code of Conduct was effective in regulating the behaviour of political parties in the last election and if the AFC is worried at all about the likelihood of personal attacks on its members during the upcoming election campaign period. Hughes said that there has been a Code of Conduct for most of the elections since 1997 and it therefore endorses such a pledge for a high standard of behaviour by the political parties and the media. The politician says that she believes that there is no harm in it. She noted however, that there is no legislative background to the document. The AFC member acknowledged that it can be enforced but in the spirit of creating a safe environment where citizens can go and exercise their vote, the Party supports both initiatives, that is, Codes of Conduct for politicians as well as journalists. Nagamootoo in giving his take on the matter reminded that when the Constitution was reformed in 2001, certain changes were presented to Parliament. “I recall vividly that for the first time we constitutionalised a requirement that no one should use racism and racist advocacy in an election or outside of the elections period…so if the supreme law of your land recognizes that the elections could be devastated by race hate, race mongering , advocacy of racism, using race in speech or in language that offends , hurts, divides and destroys, then the Constitution must have thought seriously about the issue of conduct in an election period…so we could have recourse to the Constitution,” the lawyer asserted. He said, too, that the Code of Conduct is a voluntary subscription to modes of behaviour and those modes of behaviour must comply with the best international standards. Nagamootoo informed the media that there are institutions that monitor the election campaign period such as the Commonwealth and the Organization of American States. “They monitor and we are going to be in touch with them so that we could have a monitoring of these standards,” He added. As for personal attacks, Nagamootoo sought to set the record straight that elections are not going to be the end of life, at least not political life and all the parties, are going to remain as such. It is upon this background he added that in the upcoming election there should only be disputations and contests of ideas as against the benefit of one platform as against another. He said that there should be contests in relation to the content of manifestos and programmes. Nagamootoo is hopeful that the elections would not be converted into an occasion for a gutter kind of vendetta. He asserted that it should be an occasion for reconciliation. The politician then extended an invitation to all political parties to raise the level of language and the level of the discourse during the election period. He urged the contesting parties to refrain from descending into attacks on people’s families and have political debates that would take the country forward. The AFC Vice Chairman said that he believes all three parties have good intentions, apart from areas for criticisms. Hughes however noted that there is no guarantee that the existence of the codes will shape people’s behaviour. She said that “at the end of the day, it all comes down to personal ethics and the standard one would hold themself accountable to”. “We have had the most vile, personal attacks on members of political parties and the AFC has gotten more than its fair share of it… and that has happened at times when both Codes of Conduct have been in existence. I would be hopeful but I am prepared for the worst case scenario,” she concluded.