Sex audio tapes join general election fray

Three sexually explicit voice recordings, purportedly between a Unity Labour Party (ULP) official and unknown females began making the rounds here on Monday via social media.

The release of the tapes came less than two days after Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves announced the election date and asked for the gutter politics and personal attacks to stop while urging the politicians under his charge to embrace positive political stances.{{more}}

The tapes were first released on Facebook via a medium called Soundcloud but were removed hours after, but not before persons had copied the recordings to their smartphones and continued sharing them via social media applications like Blackberry Messenger (BBM) and WhatsApp.

The tapes, one over 18 minutes long and another over six minutes, are of a female and male involved in phone sex. During the conversations, the two use obscene language and colloquial terminologies to describe their sex organs, while one of the tapes ends when it appears that the woman has reached sexual climax.

The recordings spurred huge debate on social media site Facebook and were the topic on a number of talk shows here on Monday night. A caller on Star FM, the radio station of the ULP, accused the person or persons responsible for releasing the tapes as being “wicked”.

A number of callers offered prayers, with some even sounding as though they were crying.

Discussing the issue on Star FM on Monday night, Dr Audrey Gilkes-Gittens, the ULP’s deputy chair, said that the ULP and its supporters are resilient and will shrug off this latest incident aimed at destroying the party. She encouraged persons to pray about the incident.

“I just want to say to supporters of Labour, I know that you have a very heavy heart and I know your heart is filled with tears, but we need to step out of that; we are a happy party, we know that is exactly what they want to put us in despair for us to be despondent, but we are a resilient people, all our labour party supporters, and we will just shrug it off,” said Gilkes-Gittens.

She added, “We know that the attacks…will continue, so if we believe this has been the last of it we are kidding ourselves and it will not surprise me if it becomes more dirty.

“When light is shed on everything we hope that somebody answers. I do not think that this is one that you should allow to just go by, because there will be another. They attack you every day and we see it…I hope when everything is out in the open I hope that somebody answers.

“I am appealing to that lady who allowed herself to be used as the lowest common denominator, to please reach out to Christ, ask for forgiveness, seek healing,” said Gilkes-Gittens.

No official response has been issued by the ULP. (LC)