Commission to invite media involvement in elections code of conduct
The Elections Commission is to invite media houses and media practitioners to become involved in the drafting of a code of conduct for the election campaign. It is one of several initiatives that the commission plans to pursue in the coming weeks. It is also to finalise its decision on the form of voter identification to be used at the next elections when it meets tomorrow. The Memorandum of Understanding signed with the government and donor nations calls for the Elections Commission to formulate codes of conduct for the political parties and for the media. However, Chairman, Joe Singh, said that it was the commission's intention to involve to media organisations and media practitioners in formulating the draft code. Singh said that the code would be considered by the commission and if accepted would then be the guide for the media in the coverage of the election campaign. He said he expected that the code would have a high degree of acceptance given the involvement of the media in its formulation. Singh, in an interview on the `Guyana Today' programme last week, indicated that the commission would soon appoint a person to monitor the coverage of the campaign by the media. Other arrangements put in place to handle its public education work include the appointment of Prime Time Advertising, Tagman and Guyenterprise to address its voter education and media relations functions. One of the other initiatives which is on the commission's agenda is the involvement of the foreign and local observers in the electoral preparation process. Singh told Stabroek News that ideally the commission would like to have the observer missions in place for the start of the Claims and Objections period which commences in the first week of October. He said that this issue and the appointment of on-site coordinators of the foreign and local observer missions are to be discussed with the donor community with whom the commission will meet on September 18. The commission would like to have the coordinators in place by the end of the month. Both posts are likely to funded by the donor community. The meeting with the donors will be followed in a day by a meeting between the commission and the political parties to bring them up to date on the commission's plans. On the next day September 20, the commission will meet civil society organisations and on the following day, September 21, it will host a press conference. With respect to the voter identification issue, Singh said that he was awaiting a feedback from some of the commissioners on their discussions with their parties on the decision to use the national identification card at the upcoming elections. Singh had earlier told Stabroek News that he would have been in a position to make an announcement about the decision on Friday. He said that he did not intend to wait beyond tomorrow, though the delay had afforded the commission the opportunity to finalise a number of technical issues related to the issue of the national identification card to identify voters. Meanwhile, the commission's consultations with stakeholders continued yesterday when Singh, and commission members Mahmood Shaw and Robert Williams held a meeting in the East Berbice area at the Berbice High School. Today, Singh, Shaw and Williams will visit the commission's training centres on the West Coast Berbice.
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