Dear Editor,
It was very entertaining and alarming to witness how GPA credibility is being dragged into the gutter by persons with ulterior motives before and after its election. Based on the accusations that were hurled, one could see that from the inception, the body wasn’t advised properly, or either they were not familiar with setting up such an important entity. Both presidential contestants worked in the media for several years, and covered quite a lot of elections, and should have seen flaws, and been able to ensure that the organization they represented had a system in place to prevent such from happening. As years went by, I’m quite sure they recognized errors but made no adjustments, instead, one embarks on a mission to cause embarrassment and damage the credibility of the members/body. It is my opinion, seeing and knowing he didn’t have a chance, the smear campaign started and reached an extreme and mischievous elements were solicited ‘level’ to assist which backfired. Given the culture of the government’s attitudes towards every organization/institution in Guyana, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear this whole fiasco was instigated by them just to get control.
Editor, clearly there were no proper rules of transparency, term limits, accountability, etc. All was established, in ways for someone to get a press pass. There’s no mention of meetings that should be held, or members deciding to enhance and protect the body, discuss the development of the body, etc. There are many social media news surfacing, and some are politically affiliated and mischievous and there should be action taken against them, even if it requires the court’s intervention. The way I see it presently, there were lots of lapses that needed to be corrected, and they should be worked on, instead of getting into gutter fights. Finally, Editor, the norm in Guyana, is that once you not doing/saying things in favour of the Government, you are automatically associated as being a member of the opposition and the same goes vice-versa. During the GPA’s election, several members of the GPA were accused of being associated with the PNC, which I know personally to be untrue, but a hungry society that awaits excitement easily becomes gullible.
Now, I know quite a few media operatives who chose not to sell their soul and be jumping around like grasshoppers, and as a result, are being chastised for their stance. The two contestants both seem to fall into that category, one media career seems to be associated with only praising/supporting the government, and the other seems to be against it. In all fairness, it seems unfair, because there will always be conflicts and accusations conveniently. The body was set up to be free from government interference, and one has to be stupid to believe that if you are working for a media house that has strong ties with the government, you wouldn’t be conveniently biased. Added to that, when external help that seemed to be the middleman for laundering money was solicited, red flags were bound to raise. In all fairness, any member who chooses to support such a person must be gullible to corruption also.
Out of curiosity, I would like to know why the Editor of Stabroek News, Anand Persaud, never runs for the Presidency. It’s my opinion that he has the required skills and experience that would make the body far better than it is presently.
Sincerely,
Sahadeo Bates