Religious bodies join calls for politicians to be more responsible during elections

Apr 27, 2015 News

As the date of the upcoming General and Regional Elections draws closer, members of the religious community have joined calls for politicians to be more responsible and cognizant of the rhetoric being used during the campaign periods.
Secretary of the Justice of Peace Commission, (JCP) of the Catholic Church, Lawrence Latchmansingh emphasized the importance of those contesting the elections to sign the Code of Conduct, which is intended to dissuade politicians from making divisive and inflammatory speeches while campaigning.
The JCP representative said that politicians should be very careful of what they are saying during this sensitive period since it can lead to violence and unnecessary unrest in the country.
The Catholic body had recently, launched a campaign initiative to monitor the content of political speeches at the public meetings in the final stages of the run up to General and Regional Elections on May 11. Although the sect accounts for more than 70,000 of the Guyanese population, Latchmansingh said that both Catholics and non-Catholics have since expressed interest in joining the initiative.
Similarly, the Guyana Hindu Dharmic Sahba, (GHDS)’s Jagmohan Persaud noted that like everyone else in the country, the Hindu community would hope that politicians will be sober and responsible not to breach the law or cause any uneasiness, which will disrupt unity in the country.
“We expect at the end, our country will be able to continue the journey as a nation and people are sober and healthy. We anticipate no tense situation, or that politicians will do anything, say anything unwelcoming,” Persaud said.
Fazil Feroze of the Central Islamic Organisation, (CIOG), noted that at this stage of the elections period, it is very important to let good sense prevail.
“Everyone’s emotions are running very high and people need to let good sense prevail. They (politicians) need to appeal to less emotion and study more of issues of how our country can go forward after elections,” Feroze said, noting that “elections is only one day, and afterwards, we have to live.”
He expressed the need for politicians to “tone down” on the campaign trail. Feroze said that politicians should be more careful in the heat of moment, since they can sometimes be misinterpreted.
The CIOG representative noted however, that the election season has been violence free thus far. He expressed hope that the observer bodies will help to monitor the elections.
Recently, former President, Bharrat Jagdeo was cited by the Media Monitoring Unit (MMU) for making ‘racially charged’ comments at Babu Jaan.
Jagdeo was also criticized for telling Berbicians at a rally that the opposition alliance and former military personnel could link up and terrorize them.
Members of the various sectors including the Diplomatic Corps and the Private Sector Commission, (PSC) have also called on politicians to tone down and avoid inflammatory or provocative language during the lead up to elections.
Even as the days inch closer to elections, rallies and public meetings have already produced their fair share of controversial language. The Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has noted that most of the political parties contesting the elections are yet to sign the code of conduct prepared by commission.
Chairman of the Commission, Dr Steve Surujbally noted that the elections body would only be allowed to “name and shame,” political parties found in default after they would have signed the document.
Dr. Surujbally is optimistic that the political groups will sign on to the document, even as the election inches closer. He noted though, that the contending groups should be mature enough to conduct themselves properly.

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Religious bodies join calls for politicians to be more responsible during elections

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