KINGSTON, Jamaica — Prime Minister Andrew Holness and the Leader of the Opposition, Dr Peter Phillips, this afternoon held private discussions at Vale Royal, where they agreed that teams from the Government and Opposition will meet on Monday (January 7).

This afternoon’s one-on-one meeting comes after the Opposition declined the prime minister’s invitation to meet this morning over the state of emergency (SOE).

Phillips at the time stated that the notice of the meeting, outlined in a letter from Holness on December 31, was too short. 

The two parties have been sparring over the SOE since the Opposition on December 11 withdrew its support for the anti-crime measure.

According to a joint statement from the two parties a short while ago, Holness and Phillips held full, frank and confidential discussions on security and crime management in Jamaica.

“They also agreed that, at the Monday meeting, a date will be determined for a meeting with other stakeholders,” the statement continued.

With the Opposition’s vote last month, the SOE will end in St Catherine North today, in Kingston Western and St Andrew South next Monday and in St James on January 31. 

The Opposition, which had supported extensions of the anti-crime measure before, argued that detainees were being subjected to human rights abuses and that the SOE was no longer necessary, given the reduction in crimes, particularly murder.