The Council for Responsible Political Behaviour says it has not yet received any formal complaints of possible violations to the Code of Ethical Political Conduct.

However, it says it has been advised of attempts on social media to either misrepresent parties or candidates.

The concerns were raised at the Council’s first weekly meeting since the start of the period of monitoring.

It reminds that it does not have the capacity to monitor all aspects of social media and so, depends on citizens to share information which they believe may be in violation of the Code.

In a statement it says:

“The Code of Ethical Political Conduct, in seeking to uphold the integrity of the election process, challenges all political parties and their supporters to abide by the cardinal ethical principles of:

• Non-discrimination on the grounds of race, ethnicity, sex, gender, class, religion or belief, or seek to mobilize support by reference to race, sex, gender, religion or class.
• Not make false or defamatory allegations in print or speech, inclusive of images and effigies in connection with an election in respect of a Party, its Candidates, representatives or members.
• Not seek to assassinate the character of or make defamatory comments about any individual, family, professional group or section of the community.
• Not criticize aspects of the private lives of Candidates, their families, not connected with the public activities of the leaders or Candidates of other Parties.”

While several local political parties are signatories to the Code, the UNC announced its withdrawal earlier this year.

It also recently called on the Council to refrain from making any reference to the party in its monitoring process.