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REACTION TO CHURCH
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SAFFRON PARTY-SPEAK
* At the end of the day, the church may only help push a few candidates over the finish line
* There are many other factors that play a role in elections, including money
* The church on the whole is pretty neutral. Role of individual priests who work for a particular candidate is different
- Dr Wilfred Mesquita, vice president of party
* No communication gap between the government and the church
* Individual candidate who has worked will at the end emerge triumphant. People also vote for candidates
* The church as a body plays a ‘neutral role’
- Michael Lobo, Calangute MLA
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PANAJI:
“The people are intelligent enough and know that Goa requires a stable government. It is only the two major political parties that can provide a stable government. Talk of the third front or of independent candidates is only momentary,” Dr Wilfred Mesquita, vice president of the party said.
He said that the church’s missive, is never in favour of a particular political party and will not necessarily help or damage the prospects of a party at large.
The Archdiocesan Board of Education had called a meeting of several Catholic MLAs after it was felt that the government was blocking attempts to give clearances to start institutes as sought by the ABE.
“At the end of the day, the church may only help push a few candidates over the finish line. There are many other factors that play a role in elections, including money,” Dr Mesquita said, however adding that the role played by individual priests in constituencies varied.
“The church on the whole is pretty neutral. But if you ask me the role of individual priests who work for a particular candidate that’s different,” he said.
Calangute legislator Michael Lobo, who admitted that the Church’s missive to vote out corruption helped him at the hustings denied that there was a communication gap between the government and the church.
“One might argue that the events played out at the national level effect here in Goa, but Goa is a special place, where all communities live together. The individual candidate who has worked will at the end emerge triumphant. People also vote for candidates,” he said.
“I for my part have taken everybody along,” Lobo said. He insisted that the church as a body plays a ‘neutral role’.
On several occasions, especially at the yearly Christmas ‘bonhomie’ the Archbishop has raised several issues like that of ‘intolerance’ and attempts to “incite hatred between communities and polarizing the majority against the minorities in this State” as he did in 2015 as well as that of “certain signs which are causing grave concern, particularly to the minorities, and which threaten to break down the fibre of our nation” which he had raised the previous year.
