JAMAICA | PNP Tells Holness to Rein in Labourites, Uphold Decency and Integrity

KINGSTON, Jamaica. June 12, 2024: Information and Public Communication Spokesperson for the People's National Party (PNP) Nekeisha Burchell, wants Prime Minister Andrew Holness to ensure that his party members uphold the principles of decency, honesty, and truth in public discourse and representation. 

Her call comes against the background of several instances of misconduct by senior representatives of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).

In a statement, Burchell said Prime Minister Holness, in a speech at a JLP conference on Sunday, stated his commitment to remaining above gutter politics.

“We urge him to extend this discipline to his parliamentarians and party members,” Burchell said.  “They must step out of the gutter and maintain a standard of integrity that all Jamaicans can respect,” she declared.

We have observed several disturbing incidents involving senior JLP members that contradict the Prime Minister’s professed ideals:

1. Heroy Clarke, Deputy Speaker of the House, made reprehensible statements in a WhatsApp group with over 300 participants, falsely accusing PNP Leader Mark Golding of committing an egregious offense. This baseless accusation is now the subject of legal proceedings.
2. Daryl Vaz, Minister of Economic Growth and Job Creation, has continued his practice of spewing baseless rhetoric, this time falsely attributing a fictitious poll result to pollster Don Anderson.
   Mr. Anderson was compelled to publicly deny these unfounded claims in the Jamaica Gleaner, stating unequivocally that he has never conducted any such poll for the PNP or any other entity.
   Furthermore, Daryl Vaz sought political mileage by divulging non-public personal data on a radio talk show, data that could only have originated from PICA’s confidential database.
   This egregious breach of confidentiality raises serious concerns about the misuse of sensitive information for political gain, violating the right to privacy of Jamaican citizens and exposing them to governmental overreach.
3. Michelle Charles, Member of Parliament for Eastern St. Thomas, posted a video to her WhatsApp status repeating baseless and scurrilous allegations against the PNP leadership.
4. Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn, State Minister, used Twitter to incite racial division in Jamaica by asserting that persons of her skin tone have more rights to Jamaica than those whose skin is not similar to her shade. Such divisive comments are deeply damaging to the social fabric of our nation.

“Prime Minister Holness has stated that his administration is prepared to face head on those who spread lies and misinformation. We call on him to address the falsehoods and misconduct within his own party first by imposing appropriate disciplinary measures on these four JLP members,” Burchell said

“Moreover, we note with concern that no member of the Jamaica Labour Party has signed the Integrity Code, which encompasses these fundamental principles,” she concluded.

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