Le Defi Plus Prints Grossly Inaccurate Article on LALIT
21.10.2014
On Saturday 18 October, 2014 Le Defi Plus printed a totally false article about LALIT. We sent a mise-au-point the same day by email, copy to the Electoral Commissioner, requesting that this be rectified as soon as possible in their daily edition, as well as next Saturday. Monday and Tuesday’s editions are out without any correction.
Here is the letter LALIT sent to the Director of publications:
M. Ehshan Khodarbux,
Director, Le Defi Media Group,
GRNW, P. Louis
Dear Ehshan Khodarbux,
On Page 11 of Le Defi Plus, 18 October, 2014, you published the following title: "LALIT prevu de depenser au minimum Rs200,000". This is not only false, but the exact opposite of what I said. What I said was that we expect to spend, less than Rs200,000 in the entire campaign for all our candidates added together.
And this is not just a typing error. There is another error that proves it. The article says LALIT would be buying a complete set of "registres electoraux" for each constituency. This is not what I said. It is not only false, but would mean we were completely mad to go and buy a complete set for each constituency. Your reporter's "total" of Rs200,000 for expenditure just on Electoral Registers is, thus, a pure invention. I obviously said that the registers would cost us a total of Rs10,000, even mentioning that they cost Rs500 per constituency, which when multiplied by 20 makes Rs10,000. In fact, that is what they did cost us. That is what is on our receipt. You can confirm this with the Electoral Commission, if you wish.
This is very serious misreporting, and does great prejudice to LALIT. We are a party of long standing and we enjoy a good reputation, especially as regards our integrity. The report harms both LALIT, all our candidates in the general elections, and me, personally. As we will be swearing under oath on the question of our expenses, and as we swear truthfully, this report, though clearly just sloppy reporting from a junior staff member completely out of his depth in the field he is writing about, has particularly disastrous effects: it will be in direct conflict with the truth, and the truth will be sworn under oath. This grossly erroneous article is thus the responsibility of the Editorial staff.
Please could you rectify as soon as possible in your daily newspaper, and also on Saturday next, by publishing this letter twice.
Yours sincerely,
Lindsey Collen
for LALIT
Copy to the Electoral Commissioner.
