POLITICAL Ombudsman Donna Parchment Brown says that candidates who have not yet signed the Political Code of Conduct are expected to do so by today.

She was speaking at a meeting with members of the music fraternity at her Duke Street office yesterday. “Why this is important is that we have a few issues out there that are breaches or potential breaches of the code,” Parchment Brown said.

“It is about integrity, because when you sign this thing and promise to behave this way, it is not unreasonable for people to expect a candidate to live up to their word,” she said.

“Also, you can’t distance yourself from your supporters, because if you take the benefit of their votes, you must also take responsibility for the (wrong),” the political ombudsman added. A release from her office on Wednesday said that the majority of candidates for the February 25 General Election have signed the certificate signifying their commitment to uphold the agreement and declaration on political conduct.

Meanwhile, Parchment Brown stated that her office will be writing to the leaders of the political parties proposing a meeting to discuss a number of issues regarding the general election.

“(We are going)….to ask them to make statements from their platform very clearly identifying certain conducts, and saying we will not support that conduct, we do not want that conduct by our members. So, those recommendations I am hoping to send to them today,” she stated.

The Political Code of Conduct governs the actions of the Jamaica Labour Party, People’s National Party, and all other legitimate political parties in Jamaica and applies to all officials of political parties.

The code stipulates eight principles. These are: non-violence and non-intimidation; safety of private and public property; avoidance of confrontation; public utterances; freedom of access; avoidance of defacing of buildings and installations; code of ethics and political tribalism.

— JIS