Political Commentator, Christopher Ram has called out the governing People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) for its conduct during its election campaign, accusing the party of engaging in “nasty” commentary.
In a letter to the Editor of the Stabroek News, Ram wrote: “The PPP/C’s elections campaign has taken a nasty turn. One arm has leaned on disguised vote-buying and selective, distorted facts. Another has descended into language so coarse and abusive as to be unprintable”.
Ram said that the approach is not confined to “fringe” voices pointing out that PPP figures such as Leonard Craig, Labour Minister Joseph Hamilton, and even the Vice President, Bharrat Jagdeo have joined the onslaught.
While giving credit to the Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Dr Vindhya Persaud for speaking out against the conduct, he hastened to add that her voice was “drowned by the noise of the campaign”.
Craig, a former Alliance for Change (AFC) member made an unsavoury comment at one of the party’s events, saying that the PPP would take care of all citizens from “erection to resurrection” with an accompanying hand gesture to illustrate the former.
Ram also rapped the constitutional commission for not condemning these utterances.
“GECOM, which is supposed to safeguard fairness, has remained silent. The Ethnic Relations Commission, which had only weeks ago promoted a code of conduct, also looked away.
What is even more striking is who has been asked to carry the harshest lines. It is not the party’s leadership, but campaigners given licence to say what the leaders will not. Their role is clear: to reach certain voters while proving their loyalty and securing their place. They are being used, while the leadership hides its hands,” Ram penned.
He said, “the problem runs deeper”, accusing the PPP/C of sheltered individuals facing serious criminal charges, including sexual misconduct.
“When vulgarity, falsehoods, and compromised candidates are tolerated, the damage goes beyond politics. It corrodes society itself. It lowers standards, teaches the young that indecency is strength, and normalises such behaviour,” the outspoken Ram said.
He added, “Some argue these tactics come from desperation or fear of the opposition. But fear cannot justify filth. The contrast between them is clear: opposition parties, even the one most vilified, are running restrained campaigns, focusing on issues more than personalities. They have shown that an election can be fought without dragging the nation into the gutter.”
He concluded, “This is not healthy politics. It is distortion and vulgarity, a degradation of our society and its standards. Decent voters should recoil – and show their disapproval come September 1.”
