Election campaigning and columnists

Dear Editor,

As election campaigning picks up, Stabroek News must now adopt a fair policy with regards use of its columnists who are declared candidates of political parties or who are openly anti-government (and pro-government, but I know of no SN columnist who is). It is obvious that ANUG presidential candidate Ralph Ramkarran and its top executive Henry Jeffrey use their weekly columns in SN to bash the major parties (especially the APNU+AFC coalition) and to promote their party’s own agenda. Likewise, the use of columnists who openly attack the PNCR and the coalition in their articles, such as Tarron Khemraj, should now be governed by a newspaper policy that promotes equal treatment of all political parties or, at least, of those in parliament and in government.

As regards columnists who are party candidates, SN must decide whether it should no longer publish their columns or alternatively grant equal space to other election contenders. Non-candidate columnists who are innately hostile to the government or show no inclination to be balanced should be sent home now, so to speak.

Finally, a note on the publication of opinion polls. Three or four elections ago, SN had published an opinion poll a mere few days before voting day. Your readers can easily guess whom the publication of that poll was meant to hurt. Suffice to say, the newspaper must also work out and publish for all to see its rules as regards the publication of election polls.

Yours faithfully,

Sherwood Lowe 

Editor’s note: Messrs Ramkarran and Jeffrey have been longstanding columnists on political affairs, governance and a range of other issues and these columns will continue. Electioneering will not be permitted within those columns. Columnists are afforded space in the newspaper on the basis of the value they can bring to a debate and not on grounds of attaining perceived political parity.

Closer to the election date – citizens will be hard-pressed to stomach this lengthy campaign unnecessarily imposed by GECOM – the contenders will likely be invited to submit brief columns.