Ishmael Samad, contesting the Couva South seat, said...

Ishmael Samad, contesting the Couva South seat, said the election was an opportunity for him to champion his beliefs. "My participation in the election is only the continuation of my moral crusade against the death penalty. In truth and in fact, I am not really challenging anyone to win the seat." Samad said he was using the campaign to speak out against the death penalty, which he described as "barbaric." He said he was using the opportunity afforded by the election campaign to visit other areas of the country, to urge those willing to listen to help bring about a change regarding the death penalty. The outgoing Basdeo Panday administration supported the death penalty, saying it saw the issue as part of "its fundamental duty and its responsibility to the oath it took upon assuming office." As the campaign for the general election gained momentum, the ruling party aired television commercials in which it claimed credit for having "executed drug lords" since coming to power in 1995. Samad, who had staged a one-man protest outside the prison against the executions, said the advertisements underscored the politicization of the executions. Samad said his fight to abolish the death penalty would continue after the December 11, 2000 elections, "regardless of which political party wins."