Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Chairman Senator Fred Mitchell denounced a WhatsApp voice note circulating on social media over the weekend, which suggested that the PLP engaged individuals to act on its behalf in the 2017 General Election in the name of the ‘War Room’, as a means to gather and issue false information on candidates of the opposing party.
In a statement released to the media Monday, Mitchell also addressed the Attorney General’s (AG) remarks indicating that the AG’s office will refer the matter of the information “alleged” on social media to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
“What a complete and utter waste of police and prosecution time,” Mitchell said.
“The problem for us is that on what we see, no offense is disclosed and this is a simple social media, political war of ‘you say, I say’.”
During IL TV’s Beyond the Headlines with host Clint Watson, Mitchell dispelled the rumors and accusations.
“There is so much stupidness on social media, it’s difficult to understand what to believe,” he said.
Mitchell confirmed that there was some internal discussion within the PLP whether we should even pay attention to the social media arm of the party’s campaign.
“As far as we can tell, it looks like some personal spat that has just been elevated to something that is not and that the individual is aggrieved and is trying to blackmail somebody to capitulate,” he noted.
Mitchell urged – for the culprit when found – there first should be a psychological test conducted to ensure “he is sound”, in my opinion.
According to the senator, such reference to the DPP is designed to intimidate PLP partisans in their social media war against FNM trolls who continue to defame the PLP and its leaders.
“It is shameful and nakedly political. Nothing more; nothing less,” he said.
Mitchell highlighted that the Free National Movement (FNM) should continue with this defamation or folly, the PLP too, has a litany of complaints against FNM trolls online and Save The Bays, all engaged in smear campaigns against the PLP.
