“Bring Me the Evidence” – Sedi Elrington on Referendum Unit Bias

Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington has taken a backseat in the I.C.J. campaign, giving way to the Referendum Unit and Citizens for the Defense of Sovereignty to lead the charge in educating the public on the upcoming national vote.  In fact, his absence from the usual media rounds is noticeable.  Today, during the budget debate, Elrington rose to refute claims that the Referendum Unit has been overtly promoting a ‘yes’ vote during the awareness campaign.  Not only does the Foreign Minister admit to not being involved, he challenged his colleagues on the other side of the floor to identify an instance where the unit has been biased in its approach.

Wilfred ‘Sedi’ Elrington

Wilfred ‘Sedi’ Elrington, Foreign Affairs Minister

“Now Madame Speaker, in relation to the I.C.J., people on the other side have been suggesting that the Referendum Unit has been partisan.  I challenge any of them to find one advertisement, one placard or anything produced by the Referendum Unit which says Vote Yes to the I.C.J.  You will never find that.  I challenge any of them to do a recording of any of the presentations by anybody in the Referendum Unit and they will never, ever come back with a recording in which our people are saying vote yes or no to the I.C.J.  All they say is be informed, and they say that over and over and over.  So the monies are not being spent to force anything down people’s throats.  On the contrary, the people who are for the no vote are both vocal and vociferous and sometimes even violent in trying to impress upon you the need to say no.  They get desperate, not so the Referendum Unit.  The Referendum Unit is very professional, they are not like me.  And because I am so emotional on this matter, I have no charge of the Referendum Unit.  I am not responsible for it.”