The Justice and Peace Commission (JPC) of the Catholic Church yesterday began publicly calling for volunteers to participate in a campaign monitoring initiative in the remaining weeks ahead of the May 11 general elections.
Under the initiative, which is scheduled to begin sometime this week, the JPC will monitor the content of political speeches at the public meetings of political campaigns in the final stages of the run up to the polls.
This initiative is expected to support the work of other monitoring bodies, such as the Media Monitoring Unit (MMU) of the Guyana Elections Commission.
“We really need persons to come on board with this initiative; they should consider it their civic duty,” Gino Persaud, a member of JPC, told Stabroek News.
In a press statement issued yesterday, the JPC noted that the initiative is important “given the recent display of irresponsible, reckless and vulgar behaviour on the Essequibo Coast with lynched effigies of the opposition’s presidential and prime ministerial candidates being placed on a utility pole. Such crass public displays are highly inflammatory and insensitive during national elections and can only serve to stoke existing political and ethnic tensions.”
Persons who volunteer to participate in the monitoring initiative will be engaged in an effort which is geared towards increasing public/Catholic participation in an important element of the democratic process, identifying infringements/ breaches of the Political Party Code of Conduct that is expected to be signed shortly and deterring inflammatory and reckless political campaign speeches in a sensitive period.
Interested persons can contact the JPC at jpc.guyana@gmail.com.
