Latest update November 13th, 2024 1:00 AM
Mar 28, 2015 News
– issue seen as critical to fair elections
The unfair distribution of radio licences by the ruling party in late 2011 to mainly close friends, shortly before
General Elections, continues to raise significant concerns among the Opposition.
Now, more than three years later as early elections looms, the issue is continuing to embarrass the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C).
This is because political parties have been complaining incessantly of being refused access to the radio stations and even television operations closely linked to Government.
The matter is so serious that the business advocacy body, the Private Sector Commission (PSC), has
written President Donald Ramotar, urging him to take action to ensure equitable coverage for political parties, during the lead up to the General Elections on May 11, and afterwards.
In a letter addressed to President Donald Ramotar, dated March 19, the Private Sector Commission (PSC) said that it is integrally involved in the process of ensuring that the upcoming Elections of May 2015 will be free and fair.
PSC, which comprises top businesses from a wide cross-section of entities across the country and includes commercial banks among its membership, said it had meetings with the United Nations agencies, Diplomatic Missions and the Organisation of American States (OAS) and various other stakeholders involved in monitoring
the elections.
Fair Elections?
“In all of our meetings, the issue of equitable access to radio and television, both state and privately operated, for both political advertising and party election broadcast, has been raised as a matter of priority to ensure a fair election.
In the course of these meetings, we have determined that it is necessary for there to be a clear and defined policy and requirements governing broadcast licencees,” PSC said in its letter. “We write you, therefore, particularly as the Minister responsible for Information, to request that you urgently address this matter.”
PSC said that it has reviewed the Regulations of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa which pertains to the governing of Party Election Broadcasts (PEBs) and Political Advertisements (PAs) during the election period.
PSC pointed out that the South African Broadcast Authority states, that the purpose of the regulations “is to prescribe the framework and guidelines under which Party Election Broadcast (PEBs) and Political Advertisements (PAs), shall be conducted and carried out by the Broadcasting Service Licencee (BSL) during
the National and provisional election.”
The South African Act specifically defines the requirements for both state and private licencees with regard to their airing party election broadcast, and distinguishes between PEBs and PAs.
“The South African Broadcast Authority legislation deals specifically with the allocation of airtime for PEBs on the basis of a formula relating to political party representation in the Parliament,” the business body told the President.
“The South African Broadcast Authority legislation deals specifically with the regulation of Political Advertising (PA) on both State and Private media. The legislation deals with lodging of complaints with the Authority, the observance of the regulations and the penalties for violation.”
PSC urged that these regulations be easily and readily adapted for implementation by the Guyana National Broadcasting Authority (GNBA) under the Broadcasting Act.”
GNBA was the authority established to look into the issuance of radio, television and cable frequencies. But its top officials, the Opposition, has complained, are mainly political appointees close to the ruling party.
PSC, in its letter to Ramotar, also enclosed a copy of the South African regulations.
More than three years after the radio licences were approved under controversial circumstances by former
President Bharrat Jagdeo, GNBA last year said that it was still considering new applications.
The Opposition has accused GNBA and the Government of deliberately delaying the issuance of new licences to ensure that only the Government’s propaganda is aired.
The radio licences issue has been a burning one for this administration after it was disclosed, that several were issued by former President Bharrat Jagdeo during his final days in office in 2011.
Several frequencies went to close friends of the party and even to the sister of current Minister of Natural Resources, Robert Persaud. Five were given also to the publisher of The Mirror, the PPP newspaper.
Independent media entities, which were sidelined, were requested to submit fresh applications.
There has been widespread condemnation of the allocations as several media houses, including Kaieteur News, Stabroek News, Capitol News, CNS 6 and HBTV 9, were all overlooked by Jagdeo. Indeed, his close friend, Dr. Ranjisinghi ‘Bobby’ Ramroop, was the beneficiary of five frequencies.
There had been days of protests by the media houses whose applications were not considered by Jagdeo.
Former US Ambassador, D. Brent Hardt, had said that he believed that the radio licence issue is a critical one that should be examined again by the administration.
President Ramotar had promised to examine the issue but three years after entering office, there is no word from him.
The Opposition has also been complaining that it has been targeted in a hostile manner by the state media, including the Government Information Agency (GINA) and state TV’s National Communications Network (NCN), TVG Channel 28 and Guyana Times- the last two are media outfits with close links to Jagdeo and the ruling party.
Despite Kaieteur News and Stabroek News being recognized as the widest circulated newspapers in Guyana, it had found more state ads went to the Guyana Chronicle, The Mirror and the Guyana Times, a newspaper closely linked to Bharrat Jagdeo and consequently, the Administration.
The matter had attracted international attention, including attention from the International Press Institute.
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