Political parties to sign code of ethics

ALL outstanding political parties are invited to sign on to the updated version of the Code of Ethical Conduct drafted by the Council for Responsible Political Behaviour, at a signing ceremony next Monday (September 23) at 11 am at Archbishop’s House, 27 Maraval Road, Port of Spain. Those which have already signed need not sign again, Newsday was told.

The code was signed in its original version by all political parties that contested the 2015 General Elections, said a council statement yesterday. The code seeks to get parties to main the “highest moral principles and ethical standards” in their campaigns and to “uphold the integrity of the electoral process.”

The council invited members of the public to report any possible breaches of the code, by sending complaints by email to .

Council chairman Dr Bishnu Ragoonath yesterday told Newsday that most parties which had signed up in 2015 had likewise done so for 2019, and need not attend next Monday’s event.

The signatories so far include the UNC, COP, MSJ, PEP and NCT.

He said the council limited its monitoring of the political environment to the election period which he defined as three months before and three months after the date of any election. “We are a voluntary group and have no resources.”

Ragoonath said the updated code changes the council’s structure and composition. Previously, it was made up of five or six independent members plus five members representing political parties, he related. However with the multitude of new parties coming on stream which all want to be part of the council, all parties have been formed into a Code Keeping Grouping while the council now consists of nine independent members.

The grouping meets with the council from time to time to discuss any alleged breaches of the code, Ragoonath said.

“The good thing is that we’ll use our experiences from the last time the council sat. We were very enthused with what happened.

“In one incident Dr Roodal Moonilal (Oropouche East MP) had breached the code and on the platform he acknowledged the council had cited him and he said he would watch how he made his presentations. He did it publicly.”

Ragoonath said in several other cases the council had asked parties to tone down their rhetoric. We felt we achieved something. Now, let’s do it again.”

The original code was strongly supported by the then Roman Catholic Archbishop Joseph Harris, the Inter Religious Organisation, Anglican Church, ASJA, Methodist Church, Presbyterian Church, Roman Catholic Church and the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha, plus civil society groups. The council consists of Ragoonath (chair), Bishop Clive Abdulah (deputy chair), Leela Ramdeen (secretary), Dr Beverly Ann-Marie Beckles, Dr Gabrielle Hosein, Brother Noble Khan, Dr Olabisi Kuboni, Dr Eastlyn McKenzie and Ralph Peter.