Executive member of the Alliance for Change (AFC), Cathy Hughes, recently stated that the preliminary report of the Commonwealth ObserverAFC Parliamentarian, Cathy HughesMission to the recently held Sri Lanka Elections provides many lessons for Guyana.She said that the AFC now expects the People’s Progressive Party administration to use the report to improve the local environment ahead of Guyana’s looming General Elections “especially in light of the fact that former President Bharrat Jagdeo led the Mission that issued the report.”According to the Report, the Observers found that “the election campaign period was marked by an unequal contest with extensive, large-scale abuse of state resources. They noted the comprehensive bias of state media against the Common Opposition Candidate’s campaign; the use of military personnel and public officials to support the President’s campaign; the use of Government monies, gifts and other inducements; and, the widespread use of state-owned public transport by the incumbent.”Hughes said that the AFC has over the years, spoken out against these very conditions in Guyana. Even now,Cheap NFL Jerseys, the Parliamentarian said, “The situation in Amerindian Villages where persons are given a stipend to work as Community Support Officers,Cheap Adidas Hockey Jerseys, but everyone knows is a ruse to buy the votes of Amerindians.”She added that at all previous elections,Cheap Authentic Jerseys, the incumbent is known for using state-owned public transport for campaigning. When criticized by the political opposition,Wholesale Jerseys Authentic, Hughes reminded that the PPP would claim to be conducting ‘Government business.“But everyone knows they are campaigning. It is ridiculous how many flights to the interior and how many trips to Berbice and Essequibo; have to be made to conduct ‘government businesses during campaign period. It leaves one to wonder whether any business was done before the campaign period,Cheap NFL Jerseys China,” the politician said.The issue of biased coverage, Hughes asserted, provided by NCN and the Chronicle to favour the government has been raised many times. She said that this occurs not only during the campaign period but all the time.In any decent media house, she said that the right to reply is held sacrosanct. The AFC member said that by its modus operandi, one can only conclude that either ‘decent’ does not apply to NCN or it is not a Media House.She said that it is good that the former president and executive member of the PPP led the Commonwealth Observer Mission, if for no other reason than to learn what acceptable campaign practices are.Hughes emphasized that the former President now has a responsibility to share what he learnt with his party and speak out where corrective is not taken.“The Mission that he led to Sri Lanka concluded that while the outcome of the elections reflected the will of the Sri Lankan people,Cheap Jerseys From China, an unequal pre-electoral environment meant that the electoral contest did not comply with all the key benchmarks for democratic elections. This is the lesson that the PPP government needs to heed,” the AFC Parliamentarian concluded.