KINGSTON, Jamaica — Four advocacy groups – The Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal, National Integrity Action, Jamaicans for Justice and Stand Up For Jamaica have joined the call for the resignation of Member of Parliament for Central Westmoreland, George Wright, with immediate effect.

“For the last two weeks, Jamaicans at home and abroad have had to confront in their own minds the question of whether Wright was guilty of a violent and barbaric physical attack on a woman. Many have framed the argument solely around the CCTV footage of the altercation, which rendered both parties unidentifiable. Others have either incorporated or ignored pertinent circumstantial facts to justify their conclusion,” the groups said in a joint statement.

“This call, however, is being made on the strength of official statements made by the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).”

The group said the JCF issued a press release confirming that there was a physical altercation between Wright and a businesswoman, while the JLP indicated that Wright, “acknowledged that allegations made against him were of a serious nature and were causing grave concerns for his role as a parliamentary representative”.

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“Like all accused of a crime, Mr Wright is afforded the Constitutional right to not self-incriminate. However, in choosing silence, he has understandably eroded our trust and impaired the confidence of the public that he is paid to make laws and policies for,” the groups said.

“Mr Wright does not possess the fitness to lead in the House of Representatives.”

The signatories — Jeanette Calder, executive director, Jamaica Accountability Meter Portal; Prof Trevor Munroe, principal director, National Integrity Action; Davina Gayle, chairperson, Jamaicans for Justice; and Carla Gullotta, executive director, Stand up for Jamaica — registered their “deep concern for the lack of transparency in a matter that has caused the people of Jamaica serious dismay, pain, distress, and our women in particular, a deepened sense of a lack of safety and security”.

“We therefore call upon Mr George Wright… to resign with immediate effect,” the statement said.