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GEARING UP FOR 2020

Dec 08, 2017 Editorial, Features / Columnists

According to the Greek philosopher, Plato, “When the act of democracy becomes corrupted, an entire nation can be affected.” We are three years away from the constitution deadline for elections. Guyanese will go to the polls in 2020. But even before then they will go to the polls to elect their municipal and village leaders.
The unilateral appointment of the GECOM Chairman and the current attacks on the budget by the opposition show that the PPP has set its sights on 2020.
From all indication this general election will not be for the faint hearted. The political temperature has already heated up. It will be the mother of all elections because for the first time in 23 years, the PPP will be campaigning as the opposition. It will not have the kind of resources that allowed its Ministers to travel round the country to campaign under the guise of doing government business.
The government will continue its programme that gained it the seat of government. A general election is no frivolous affair. We must support fair, free and peaceful elections. An election code of conduct is needed to maintain the integrity of the electoral process. We must end the rigging, mudslinging and race-bait politics that have somewhat handicapped our electoral process in the pass.
An election code of conduct should be a priority for the political parties and all stakeholders who are serious about the future of the country.
We have noticed that when the code of conduct was signed the elections were devoid of violence and the street protests. The press were constrained in their reports of events. They were forced to refrain from partisan reporting. The monitoring bodies had no power but the monitors were serious.
This helped the young reporters to appreciate what was required of a reporter; they ran the risk of being barred from political events, something that would be a stain on the professional career.
An election code of conduct which already exists in Trinidad and Tobago and St. Vincent and the Grenadines is also meant to prevent demagogic language and actions that have incited violence, racial tension and disrupt rivalry on the campaign trail. It is time to stop the propaganda, end the name-calling and rumor-mongering and gutter-type politics.
A code of conduct is critical to prevent manipulation of the election machinery and malpractices during elections by the party in power. Through effective monitors we now must ensure clean campaigns.
There have been attempts to limit campaign spending. In the past, the incumbent appeared to have unlimited finances. However, the political parties seem to have no will to go in this direction.
Perhaps the time is now for the elections commission to move for legislation that would give teeth to the elections monitor. An election code of conduct without enforcement mechanisms is useless. Politicians should not agree to one and then carelessly disregard its rules. There should be some form of enforcement.
At the very least, someone must have the authority to call attention to election breaches and impose appropriate action.
Now is the time for the church, the private sector and civil society groups to team up to send a strong message to our politicians that their behavior will be scrutinized in the next election. Our democracy demands nothing less.

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