Dear Editor,
As a journalist, I have been following the election campaign very keenly and have watched the whole thing get very out of hand. This election campaign, which was supposed to be about discussing issues concerning our nation, has turned into an excuse for mud-slinging, verbal bashing, and a hate campaign. No party can squirm their way out of blame here. Some persons, who call themselves politicians denigrate, insult and behave in such a low fashion as to call other politicians names, make fun at their physical appearance and try to pull them down. Could it be that these persons don’t know how to critically think and discuss the issues that matter in any election – health, education, jobs, security?
How low can we sink when we cease to discuss the issues and attack people’s academic credentials and call them ‘dunce lawyers’ and ‘quack doctors’? Do we know how hard these persons had to work to attain all the certificates and degrees they earned? Have the persons who criticize these individuals ever set foot within the walls of a university or ever written a scholarly paragraph, much less an academic paper?
How much nastier can this election campaign get when our politicians use nasty and filthy language on the platform in the presence of our children and young people? Can’t we discuss issues instead of insulting the President of Guyana for receiving an Honorary Doctorate of Literature Degree? People do, from time to time because of their work, get these honorary qualifications. It does not mean they begged for it or received it illegitimately as opposed to another person who would actually have to study for it. Is it professional to refer to a party’s headquarters as a criminal gang or animal farm? How can a president refer to people as ‘racist’?
What does a You-Tube video of a lawyer have to do with anything in an election campaign? And what is the problem with political leaders having an American or Canadian passport along with citizenship? Does it make them any less concerned about what is happening in our country?
One has to question the intellect of these individuals who resort to personal attacks on individuals. Their power to critically think about the core issues in the election comes into question. And the bad thing about this nasty attitude is that they incite and excite the crowds to enjoy and relish this type of unethical behaviour.
Can some of our politicians get any lower? These elections would not be won on the basis of how much fun one politician was able to poke at another one. At the end of the day, when persons go to their homes, they want to know about the issues, not which president is unmarried and without a family.
This gutter-type politics and low behaviour ought to cease immediately. These provocations can only hurt the already fragile bonds which exist across this nation during this tense election period.
Yours faithfully,
Leon Jameson Suseran
