MEDIA RELEASE - April 18th, 2025
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STATEMENT ON THE COUNCIL'S DELIBERATION
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In its monitoring of the 2025 General Election campaign, the Council for Responsible Political Behaviour, whilst noting that thus far the campaign has been largely clean and commendable, there were some shortcomings in relation to the Code of Ethical Political Conduct. To be sure, several clauses within the section on Prohibited Conduct of the Code may be referenced.
To begin, there continues to be the vandalism and destruction of election materials of parties and candidates. Clause 6 of the Prohibited Conduct section of the Code specifically directs, and we reiterate this from our release of the last week that Parties, Candidates and Supporters should
6. Not deface, or induce anyone to unlawfully remove or destroy, or deface the billboards, placards, posters or any other election materials of a Party or Candidate.
As was also noted then, all parties and candidates should obtain permission from property owners before placing their election materials on private property.
Another issue which arose was that of the use of inappropriate language or words on the platform. The Council acknowledges that ‘picong’ is part of our culture, but the use of picong must always be kept respectable and refrain from insult or name-calling. Two Clauses within the Code speak to this, asking of all participants in the campaign to:
4. Not use language or act in a way that may a) Provoke violence; or b) Intimidate Candidates, members of Parties, representatives or supporters of Parties or Candidates, or voters; or c) Invite, encourage or foster hatred, resentment or any form of violence.
5. Not seek to assassinate the character of or make defamatory comments about any individual, family, professional group or section of the community
Another issue that the Council observed and in fact received a formal complaint about was the use of social media posts that was geared towards intimidating citizens either from publicly supporting a party or candidate or even the threat of preventing persons from exercising their right to vote. The Council notes that the specific complaint was dealt with by law enforcement agencies and is now sub-judice. The Council however reiterates that the Code asks of all Parties and Candidate to
9. Not engage, recruit, or deploy any individual(s) for the purpose of violence,
intimidation or harassment, including intimidation...
Various candidates, on the campaign trail have been making allegations that opposing parties and candidates have been offering various enticements to electors to either vote in a particular way or not vote at all. As in the issue above, from the perspective of the Council, we again beseech parties and candidates to abide by Clause 1 which states:
1. Not offer any inducement or reward, for example money, groceries or other benefits, to another person to a) Join or not to join a Party; b) Attend or not to attend a public meeting, march, demonstration, rally or other public political event; c) Vote or not to vote, or to vote or not to vote in any particular way; or d) Refuse a nomination as a Candidate or to withdraw as a Candidate
As we approach the last week of campaigning, the Council again acknowledges that thus far the campaign has been peaceful. We note that the principles and values articulated in the Code are being adopted in the main. We note small lapses, and we acknowledge that these may be due to ignorance of the Code. Members of the public are invited to visit the Council’s website at www.politicalethicstt.org to view the Code it its entirety. Members of the public are again asked to collaborate with the Council by submitting reports, not
only of possible breaches to the Code, but also of instances where the Code is being upheld, either through a message to WhatsApp 793 4505 or via email to info@politicalethicstt.org.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the Council,
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Leela Ramdeen,
Secretary
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