Keeping it clean

It’s difficult to believe that anyone could object to the UBP's plea to keep the election clean and focused on the issues. But object is precisely what the PLP and some of its supporters are doing.

The argument seems to be that the UBP have spent much of this year doing many of the things that their new Code of Conduct says they shouldn't, so it's a bit rich of them to turn round now and try to get everyone to hold hands and sing kumbaya.

I can sympathise with this, up to a point. However, even if you accept that the UBP's behaviour has been less than stellar, the PLP have been no better. They've shown no hesitation in striking back with unsubstantiated allegations (Grant Gibbons and TBI; the suggestion that UBP and the media are "in cahoots") and name-calling (almost any adjective used to describe a UBP MP in the Premier's speech on Saturday; "racist dog") of their own. So agreeing to a truce now would hardly leave them at a disadvantage.

That said, the UBP's initiative is not without its problems. Who decides when the Code has been breached? One man's fair comment is another's inflammatory statement. And what sanctions will there be for anyone who does violate it?

Nevertheless, it's a step in the right direction. I doubt that most voters will have the stomach for six more weeks of negativity like that exhibited by the Premier on Saturday evening. If the PLP chooses to go down that path, they could suffer for it at the polls. Perhaps it would be in their best interests to swallow their pride and sign up to the UBP's Code, after all.