The incumbent PPP/C and the main opposition coalition yesterday accused each other of intimidating and harassing supporters and activists of their campaigns.
At a press conference held at Freedom House, members of the PPP/C campaign accused the APNU+AFC coalition of participating in organised attempts at intimidation and abuse.
Gail Teixeira and Charles Ramson Jr, in their capacities as PPP/C Assistant Election Agent and Counting Agent of Georgetown, respectively, enumerated what they termed “instances of intimidation and abuse perpetrated by APNU+AFC supporters in full colours.”
These attempts, according to Teixeira, have been both covert and overt. Overt instances, she said, include the physical assault on a man wearing the PPP/C t-Shirt and threats against the owner of a house at Middle Road, La Penitence that was previously used as a polling station.
Numerous alleged instances of opposition supporters removing the flags and posters of the ruling party and attempts to disrupt PPP/C meetings in perceived coalition strongholds were also cited. In at least one instance, Teixeira said these attempts resulted in the cancellation of a public meeting. This meeting, which was to be held in Sophia, was cancelled after APNU+AFC supporters allegedly accosted the vehicle carrying the loud hailer announcing the meeting and lined the area designated for use with opposition flags.
“Had we gone in as we were scheduled to go in and try to find a space to have a meeting and/or even dare to touch one of the flags, we are of the firm belief that this would have been the opportunity for a serious confrontation in that community,” Teixeira said.
These occurrences, according to Teixeira, are more than the usual sporadic instances of ardent supporters defacing the election material of other parties. These are “orchestrated, organised and intricate,” she alleged, before further charging that “these are organised and most likely centrally organised.”
APNU+AFC candidate Volda Lawrence, at a news conference yesterday, noted that she had heard of one such incident on the news but assured that that incident “was not orchestrated or planned by any of the parties in the coalition.” She also notes that she is unaware of any other incident.
“The government claims that they have done so much for the people and we must ask ourselves why, when they go to these communities, why are the people reacting in a different manner than a welcoming one?” she questioned.
Ramson Jr shared his account of a confrontation between him and opposition supporters led by AFC leader Khemraj Ramjattan and activist Freddie Kissoon. Ramson Jr said he was attaching flags to posts on Sheriff Street last Friday when cars “rolled up” on him and others. He claims that after Ramjattan, Kissoon and about seven others disembarked, he was verbally abused by Kissoon.
Both Ramjattan and Kissoon told Stabroek News that there was a confrontation after they received reports that Ramson was defacing APNU+AFC campaign material. “We caught him red-handed,” Ramjattan said. “We saw him posting posters of Ramotar over those of Granger,” he added.
Kissoon admits calling Ramson a “thug” at this point and Ramjattan noted that he asked him to stop obscuring the APNU+AFC material and post the posters either above or below and he [Ramson] agreed.
According to Teixeira, all intimidation attempts have been reported to the police, who in some cases were witnesses to the acts.
Meanwhile, in a subsequent statement, the APNU+AFC coalition said one of its activists in Region 2 has filed a police report on the matter of him being threatened, verbally abused and intimidated by a senior PPP official in the Anna Regina area.
It promised to provide full details, including names, at a later time.
However, the coalition said the incident is the latest in a long line of APNU+AFC officials being “harassed, abused, bullied, intimidated and threatened” by the PPP/C regime.
“The APNU+AFC condemns these acts of aggression and desperation in the strongest possible terms,” the coalition said, while dismissing the PPP/C’s claims of a centrally organised plan to harass the PPP/C activists.
It insisted that there is no such plan and urged that the people to judge the tone and temperature of the two political campaigns.
“The PPP/C is clearly propagating messages of division and hate, while APNU+AFC’s campaign is based on national unity, inclusion and harmony,” it said, while calling for calm and restraint of its supporters as it believes victory is assured.
