MUDSLINGING IS NOT HELPING THE PPP

Oct 11, 2011 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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For political parties which the PPP feels are not going to do very well in the general and regional elections, the ruling Peoples Progressive Party is paying a great deal of attention to APNU and the AFC.
It is expected, of course, that the ruling party would wish to demonstrate that in its estimation it should be favoured by the electorate. It would wish, therefore, to convince the electorate that the PPP rather than APNU should have their votes.
But the degree of attention which these two parties are receiving pales in comparison to the PPP’s public pronouncements about these parties. The PPP expects to convincingly defeat its two major rivals. Yet, it spends an inordinate amount of its time on the political platform berating the credentials of these two parties and attacking personalities from these parties, instead of focusing more on its own programme for the next five years.
There is one principal culprit in this exercise and the PPP will eventually have to decide whether it will continue to persist with this individual on its platform. While the person may be seen as an important cog in the PPP’s plan for re-election, that person by his words and actions is causing the PPP to lose a great deal of face.
There was no need, absolutely no need, for anyone to be attacking the media in Guyana. The media is not a contestant in the elections and while various media houses may be perceived as biased, it does not help the PPP’s cause for invectives and disparaging labels to be thrown at the media houses.
It seems that those attacking the media houses are not doing so because they feel that these media houses are siding with the opposition, but because the media houses may be saying and printing things that are uncomfortable to the rulers.
Instead of attacking the media, those labeling the media with all kinds of obnoxious titles should be addressing what the media has to say.
But please do not insult the intelligence of the people of this country by saying that the price at which a contract is awarded is not the financing cost. If it is not the financing cost then what is? How can someone bid on a contract and then after they would have won the bid, indicate that there are interest costs, inflations costs and contingencies to be added? What sort of contract is that?
It is usual for most bids to cater for contingencies, inflation and interest costs. In fact, there are usually specific clauses provided in contracts in relation to some of these items. It is insulting to the people of this country to be given some palpable excuse that the reason why the cost of the hydroelectric project has escalated is because of the increase in interest costs, compensation for inflation and accommodation for contingencies.
The media houses are not going to accept that a major contract has been awarded and within one year of announcing what is the bid price, the country is told that the price has increased and this is due to contingencies, inflation and interests, things that are supposed to be incorporated in the original bid price.
Neither the media nor the people of Guyana should be accepting this sort of explanation. And what is clear is that a new government will have to renegotiate the entire hydroelectric contract and look into others that have been signed and are in the pipeline. The opposition parties for some inexplicable reason are unwilling to come forward and indicate that they will have to reexamine some of the deals entered into by the government.
The media and particularly this newspaper have been edifying the people about some of the controversial deals that have taken place. So, is this why the media are being attacked on the PPP platform? And how does this thoughtless action of attacking the media help the PPP?
It does not. It works against the party and it is time that those responsible for the PPP’s campaign strategy to step forward and indicate to the party’s presidential candidate that it does not help his cause for attacks on the media and on opposition personalities to be taking place on the political forms.
All forms of personal cussing-out should be banned. It undermines the party.
The PPP has been saying all along that it has a solid record to stand on. So whose interests are being served by it deviating from highlighting this record by the tossing of invectives and abuse at opposition personalities and the media?
To Mr. Granger’s credit he has been the perfect gentleman on the campaign trial. He has avoided a mud-slinging approach and has kept his campaign clean and focused on the issues even if they are issues which the ruling party views as being stuck in the past. The PPP presidential candidate is being forced to work overtime to set a more conciliatory tone after others have laid the foundation for a mud-slinging campaign. These persons are not doing the PPP’s campaign any good.

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