Dear Editor,

In 2010 Portia Simpson Miller, the then leader of the People’s National Party (PNP), announced the establishment of an internal integrity commission (IC).

In an article she was quoted as saying that she wants to ensure the PNP takes pride in what is being achieved by the noble movement and that all its candidates and officials can stand the scrutiny of time.

When the PNP was voted out of office after 18 years in 2007, many Jamaicans had said they believed members of the party were corrupt.

Based on my understanding the IC was created to vet candidates before their names were put on the ballot to prevent any person with questionable character from entering the political arena. In 2010 the word “corruption” was what the PNP campaigned on, as the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) had been damaged from the Tivoli incursion and the “Dudus” episode.

At the time of the creation of the IC the country needed a breath of fresh air. They needed the Opposition to step up to the plate, which they did, and won the next election by a landslide. Since that victory the PNP has participated in two internal elections and changed two leaders who have different leadership styles.

The PNP’s loss at the polls in the last general election has left many vacant seats and the battle for who will be the standard-bearers for the next election is heating up.

Since 2020 a few people have raised eyebrows regarding their character. Some should not even be allowed to sit on a committee much less enter the race to be a candidate. Jamaica has lost billions of dollars over the years due to corruption, and if we are serious about advancing this country, we have to look beyond the party line and say enough is enough.

I am sure that in 2010 when former Prime Minister Simpson Miller made her grand announcement at the National Executive Council she wanted to ensure that she got rid of the bad apples before they entered the basket. I am aware that sometimes people want to reward people in their respective parties out of loyalty, but it’s time for us to realise that the voting public has turned away from politics because of empty speeches about fighting corruption.

In recent months I was given a document which outlined the different stages of the selection process for PNP standard-bearers for the next general election and being vetted by the IC was the third stage on the road to being selected. However, I think that the IC should be the first stage after the interview is done to, early on, identify any skeletons in the backgrounds of those offering themselves as potential candidates.

But my understanding, based on a conversation with someone close to the process, is that the IC gives people found wanting the opportunity to convince them otherwise.

If the PNP is serious about practising what they preach and want to have a chance at the polls in the next general election, they must clear house by removing the undesireables who, by the standards of former Prime Minister Simpson Miller, can’t stand up to scrutiny.

Rashford Dinham

dinham.rasford@gmail.com