Dear Editor,
The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) wishes to recognise the important contributions made by the press corps to the development of a more democratic and developed Guyana as the world observes Press Freedom Day 2014.
World Press Freedom Day 2014 is being observed in Guyana at a time when the press has never been freer to criticise, report and give coverage to all matters under the sun and all issues of national importance.
The PPP/C acknowledges the right to report freely without undue Government interference and coercion and will continue to support any and all media entities that put the future of Guyana and its people first by safeguarding their interests.
The party holds the view that considering the atrocities faced by the press during the early 1970s and 1980s, there is much to celebrate in Guyana today as the whole media fraternity has come a long way.
As we celebrate World Press Freedom Day, the PPP/C calls on all responsible and impartial press entities to reflect on the murder of Catholic Standards Journalist Father Bernard Darke, the circumstances which led to the censorship of the media by the PNC regime (now led by David Granger), the banning of news print and several other atrocities which undermined press freedom in Guyana during that era.
The party condemns in the strongest terms the barefaced attempts by the Opposition to financially strangulate the State Media and its right to report and air freely the developmental agenda of the Government and the people of Guyana.
The PPP/C stands four square behind the National Communications Network (NCN) and the Government Information Agency (GINA) throughout their tide of hardship imposed by the spiteful political Opposition in its reckless desire to cut off critical information to the public.
The party demands an end to politically-inspired acts aimed at depriving the State Media of critical funds and the allocations disapproved in the 2014 Budget.
The party notes the political venom and hate spewed by the Opposition media, namely, Kaieteur News and Stabroek News in their attempts to destabilise and undermine the ruling PPP/C administration. The party wishes to remind the Opposition media that their acts by their very nature undermine the principal tenets of press freedom and freedom of expression in Guyana.
Additionally, the PPP/C calls on all Guyanese journalists to recommit themselves to a higher level of journalistic practice which will enable them to focus on the promotion of the developmental agenda of the country.
The party believes that journalists need to address the development agenda with the same zeal and intensity as they pursue their own selfish and narrow political interests.
The PPP/C is committed to an environment where the news and information is fuelled by facts and not the whims and fancies of the rumour mills.
Sincerely,
PPP/C,
Freedom House