The Guyana Press Association (GPA) today added its voice to the calls for the lifting of the CNS TV 6 suspension, while saying that the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) cannot ignore the “silencing” of a media house in an election period.
“The GPA not only endorses the call by the Guyana Media Proprietors Association for the lifting of the suspension but urges GECOM to consider the action against CNS TV 6 as a ‘monitor-able’ one by the MMU [Media Monitoring Unit] in the context of shutting out access to the media,” GPA President Gordon Moseley said this morning at workshop for journalists being hosted by GECOM and the University of Guyana Centre for Communication Studies on a media code of conduct for the upcoming polls.
GECOM has told opposition parties that it is examining opinions on whether it can intervene to defer the suspension to some time after the upcoming polls. With the opposition parties claiming that the suspension has created “an uneven playing field” for polls, GECOM Chairman Dr Steve Surujbally has said his preference is to seek legal guidance towards arriving at a determination on whether GECOM has jurisdiction to pronounce on the matter.
Moseley, in his address, urged GECOM to play “a meaningful role” in the resolution of the CNS TV 6 suspension, which was imposed by President Bharrat Jagdeo last week. “Your organisation as a collective, and in particular its Chairman, cannot be advocates of a Media Monitoring Unit (MMU) while at the same time turning a blind eye to the silencing of a media house in an election period by the suspension of its licence,” Moseley said.
Opposition groups APNU, AFC and TUF and some civil society bodies have criticised the four-month suspension, which they say is intended to limit their access to the media during the elections period. The suspension along with concerns about the incumbent PPP/C’s use of the state-owned media have prompted calls for an opposition boycott of the polls until equal media access is assured to all contesting parties.
The suspension was based on a recommendation of the Advisory Committee of Broadcasting (ACB), following a complaint by Ethnic Relations Commission Chairman Juan Edghill, who was the subject of commentary aired on the channel. In a letter to the Chairman of the ACB Evan Persaud, Edghill said the “misleading and inflammatory statements and unsubstantiated allegations” constituted a breach of the Guyana Post and Telegraph Act.
CNS Channel 6 offered an “unequivocal apology” to Edghill for the “embarrassment and damage to character” caused by the airing of the commentary.
