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ET COMMENT: Why we ran deputy mayor story... 20/05/2008
THE appointment of Gul Nawaz as deputy mayor is controversial.
THE appointment of Gul Nawaz as deputy mayor is controversial.He has a conviction for benefit fraud and, like it or not, that will be a discussion point, even more so if, and when, he becomes mayor.
Councillor Nawaz is very popular in his ward and works hard. He has committed a crime and done his time and everyone deserves a fresh start. The concern about his appointment is as much about the timing as it it is about a past misdemeanour.
A former mayor of the city has recently been jailed after being found guilty of vote rigging. To appoint a deputy mayor with a previous conviction for benefit fraud so soon after this clearly runs the risk of creating a poor perception of the city. But the appointment has been made now and the protests and concerns have been heard. It's now up to Cllr Nawaz to do the city proud.
Just as concerning from the ET's point of view are the strong-arm tactics used to drive the appointment through. An e-mail to all Tory councillors warned them that there was a whip on the vote and asked them not to attend if they felt they could not support the nomination of Cllr Nawaz.
Yesterday, in an extraordinary move, the ET was asked not to run the story of his nomination in a note forwarded by the authority's communcations team. In the words of the request we were asked to pull the story because "it may manipulate the democratic process". Perhaps the democratic integrity of the nomination has been manipulated, but not because we chose to let the people of Peterborough know who was being put forward as their deputy mayor, but rather because the council's leader seemed strangely determined to stifle our coverage of it.
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