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The Sharma Saga

Oct 05, 2011 Editorial

Back on May 4 of this year, CNS Channel 6, owned by colourful personality and politician Mr Chandranarine Sharma, broadcast a commentary by the equally colourful politician Mr Tony Vieira, who not so incidentally, is also a pioneering TV broadcaster. Both had occasion to be thoroughly aware of the rules and regulations concerning what is permissible to be broadcast and what is not.
But on the fateful day, Channel 6 broadcast the commentary which, inter alia, mentioned Bishop Juan Edghill, head of the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC), who immediately contacted the Advisory Committee on Broadcasting (ACB). He asserted the broadcast contravened Reg. 23A, Guyana Post and Telegraph Act, Chapter 47:01 Laws of Guyana.
That Act states that “(a) the licensee should ensure that nothing is included in programmes which offends against good taste or decency or is likely to encourage or incite racial hatred or incite to crime or to lead to public disorder or to be offensive to public feeling; …(c) …should ensure that due responsibility is exercised with respect to the content of any religious programme …, does not involve any abusive or derogatory treatment of the religious views and beliefs of persons belonging to a particular religion and religious denomination…”.
The ACB, constituted specifically after discussions between the president and the past leader of the opposition, reviews complaints on broadcasting, or in its own cognisance, and makes recommendations to the Minister of Information, who happens to be the President of Guyana. Back in 2008, after broadcasting a live call-in programme that allowed a woman to make a threat against the life of President Jagdeo, Channel 6 was taken off the air for a month. In 2005, the ACB had mandated its closure for four months for broadcasting footage of government officials allegedly partying during the then flood – deemed by the ACB to not be true.
After reviewing the footage complained of by Edghill, which was concededly pre-recorded, the ACB advised, according to a letter by President Jagdeo that “Their finding constitutes offences (by licensees) against the constitution, the Laws of Guyana and your licence.”  Consequently, the President continued, “the recommendation of the Advisory Committee on Broadcasting to me called for the following sanction: A suspension of your (Ch6) licence for a minimum period of six months.” According to Mr Sharma, Mr Jagdeo evidently exercised his prerogative of mercy to reduce the suspension to four months.
After reviewing a transcript of what Mr Vieira said on that Channel 6 broadcast, in our estimation we would not argue that Reg. 23A was violated. We will not even argue as to the bona fides of the ACB or of the president to impose sanctions on the broadcaster. This, even in light of the fact that Bishop Edghill has already taken recourse to the courts against Mr Vieira in a $50 million lawsuit, or that Mr Sharma early on apologised “unequivocally” to Mr Edghill and essentially offered to be a “yes man” to the government. We note the president’s invocation of possible incitement to religious discord.
But what gives us pause is the timing of the sanctions. The broadcast was made six months ago; the ACB offered its advisory back in July when Sharma was first summoned to State House. He was allowed to dangle in the wind and the rope was pulled when elections are less than three months away. We must take cognisance, as the president must have done, that TV is now the vehicle for all political parties to get their message to the people. And that CNS TV 6 is the most popular channel in the most populous region- and more to the point – the one to which the opposition has traditionally had equal access.
We hope that the present sanction can be modified to remove the suspicion that democracy is being sacrificed on the altar of political expediency. We have heard that the quality of mercy is not strained. “It is an attribute of God himself; And earthly power doth then show like God’s When mercy seasons justice. “

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