On Thursday, the Ethnic Relations Commission (ERC) will be hosting a public signing of its Code of Conduct for political parties contesting the March 2 General and Regional Elections.
This inking will come almost three weeks after the Commission, during interactions with various political parties, proposed the signing of a code relevant to the elections period. A draft was shared with the Parties for suggested inputs.
The development also comes against the backdrop of several concerns raised by the Commission over the conduct of incidents of intimidation and abuse meted out to Party Officials while they were engaged in activities to sensitize on political messages reflective of the Parties they represent. The Commission would have also raised several concerns about the use of language that it considered to be “combative and disrespectful” to the point of even being “threatening” in some instances.
Leader of the Opposition Bharrat Jagdeo, just last week, criticized political parties for taking too long to make their recommendations, while adding that ERC needs to be sterner in its bid to implement the code in a timely manner.
Jagdeo told a news conference that his Party, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), is the only one to make recommendations to the Commission. While the Guyana Standard managed to confirm that Jagdeo’s party had indeed submitted its suggestions to the Commission, it could not verify if the Party is only one to do so.
