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‘Citizens who wish to enter the political race should not be threatened’ – Nigel Hughes
…says the more contestants, the more options available to the electorate
Kaieteur News- Leader of the Alliance for Change (AFC) and attorney Nigel Hughes on Friday told reporters that he believes any citizen who has a desire to run for political office must be free to do so without any interference or threats.
Hughes made the comment following a statement by Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo on Thursday at his weekly press conference where he said that persons joining the political race need to be prepared for severe scrutiny as their lives will be closely examined.
Leader of the Alliance for Change, Nigel Hughes. (‘Citizens who wish to enter the political race)
Jagdeo told reporters, “Anyone can contest the elections. However, once you declare your track record, the same way we face scrutiny every single day …over a whole range of issues fairly and unfairly, I hope people are ready to answer tough questions and they would not go off crying that they being targeted by those questions…”
The vice president said that his party is targeted everyday but if serious questions are posed to others, “suddenly oh we’re unfairly targeting”.
Hughes said that Jagdeo’s comments are a clear threat to persons interested in joining the political arena and scrutiny is in truth just a “false name for harassment”.
His party is of the belief that in Guyana any citizen who wants to run for public office “should never be threatened, whether by some veil or expressive and therefore those persons who have might, I say, attracted the wrath of the fourth term President recently.”
The attorney said that a strong message needs to be made by political parties and civil society that the more persons in the political race means more options for citizens and the AFC is in full support of this.
Hughes said that the electorate should not be deterred by “veiled threats coming from offices as high as the vice president, that they will be subject to scrutiny.”
“… and therefore, in the circumstances, we reject any attempt by the government to put pressure in persons who may be considered,” the AFC leader said.
Hughes said, “It is not lost in this population that the message that’s being sent, both in the case of Terence Campbell and in the case of Mr. Mohammed, and perhaps more recently in the case of Mr. Lall, is that it is intended as a warning to anybody who dares to threaten the People’s Progressive Party, while in office that they have to be careful because they will be, quote, unquote, subject to scrutiny. This is not a new thing.”
Further, he said that if a modern and democratic society is to be built “any person who wants to enter the political fray, particularly if they appear to be popular, and particularly if they have ideas that can be useful for the development of this country, they should do so. Do not wait until they express some interest to threaten them with scrutiny.”
(‘Citizens who wish to enter the political race should not be threatened’ – Nigel Hughes)
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