KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has written Police Commissioner Owen Ellington regarding statements made by Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller during a recent town hall meeting in St Ann.

Simpson Miller, during the meeting said that remarks by JLP leader Andrew Holness could affect investor confidence in the country. She then equated Holness’ statements to that of an “enemy of the state”.

On Friday, over the signature of Delroy Chuck, Opposition Spokesperson on Justice and National Security the letter took issue with the term Enemy of the State saying it describes a person who has committed offenses against a government and added that such a statement placed the Leader of the Opposition “in harm’s way”.

Said the JLP’s letter: After careful review of the presentation of the Prime Minister on Wednesday, January 30, 2013 in St. Ann at a public town hall meeting, in which the Leader of the Opposition was referenced as an “enemy of the state” and after careful consideration of the phrase, the Parliamentary Opposition is of the view that such a statement is inciteful and places the Leader of the Opposition in harm’s way.

The phrase “enemy of the state” as you are aware is a specific designation used to describe persons who have been declared as committing certain offenses against a government or a state. It is not an inconsequential designation especially when it is made by a Prime Minister of a country.

We ask that you take careful note of the statement and our concerns for the safety and security of the Leader of the Opposition and his family.