The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) yesterday condemned an alleged attack on a truck that was transporting people home after the Albion rally on Sunday evening, during which a few of its supporters were injured.
Speaking at the party’s press conference yesterday, PPP General Secretary Clement Rohee said information that was relayed to him said that the persons were injured when a truck was bombarded with foreign material between Number 50 and Number 51 villages, Corentyne.
Rohee said the persons were treated at a hospital.
Rohee said the party “battle ready,” however he appealed to supporters not to fall prey to provocation. Rohee emphasised that along with this incident campaign paraphernalia continued to be defaced and damaged.
When contacted yesterday morning, Police ‘B’ Division Commander Brian Joseph said he had been made aware of the incident by an informant and was able to speak to persons involved in the incident including two teenagers. Joseph said that while the incident was being investigated no official report had been made to the police.
However, by yesterday afternoon, a police press release was issued, which said, the police were “conducting investigations into reports that at about 1930h last night Sunday April 19, 2015, objects were allegedly thrown into a motor vehicle transporting supporters of the PPP/C political party in the vicinity of No. 50 Village, Corentyne.
“The supporters were returning from a political rally that was held earlier at Albion, Corentyne.
Two women were struck to their head and shoulder, respectively, and a female child was struck to her left hand. They were treated at the Skeldon Hospital.”
The release also said that the police were “taking this opportunity to call on members of the public to be tolerant of the political activities that are taking place at this time and which are part of our democratic process…” It urged citizens to “refrain from interfering with persons who may be of other political persuasions.”
Meanwhile, Chairman of the Guyana Elections Commission (Gecom) Dr Steve Surujbally told Stabroek News that he expects the two main parties contesting the May 11 election to agree to the Code of Conduct for Political Parties by Wednesday.
Surujbally called the ongoing vandalism of election material, “nothing less than puerile,” he continued with an array of adjectives ending that such behaviour is essentially “counterproductive.”
The Gecom chairman told Stabroek News that he was encouraging all public-minded citizens and political parties to report any illegal activities to the police. He said the two major political parties APNU+AFC and PPP/C, have complained about vandalism.
Surujbally noted that while the Code of Conduct was moral, it was in the best interest of parties to adhere to the code.
The Code of Conduct outlines that parties would adhere to the restriction of slogan, posters, handbills etc to be devoid of offensive material inclusive of innuendos.
Additionally, the first seven tenets are directly tied to parties agreeing to reject violence and intimidation by members and supporters towards any and all political parties.
On Friday incumbent PPP/C and the main opposition coalition accused each other of intimidating and harassing supporters and activists.
These occurrences, according to the PPP/C’s Gail 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.”
In a subsequent statement, the APNU+AFC Coalition said one of its activists in Region 2 had filed a police report on the matter of him being threatened, verbally abused and intimidated allegedly by a senior PPP official in the Anna Regina area.
The coalition said the incident was the latest in a long line of APNU+AFC officials being “harassed, abused, bullied, intimidated and threatened,” by the PPP/C regime.
