Prime Minister and Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) leader Andrew Holness has instructed his attorneys to initiate legal action against senior members of the People’s National Party (PNP) who, according to the JLP, at a press conference on Thursday “made several false and defamatory statements” about when he became aware of an Integrity Commission probe concerning illicit enrichment.

Senator Abka Fitz-Henley, a member of the JLP’s communication taskforce, confirmed the instructions given by Holness to his legal team.

“Should they not take the approriate action, lawsuits will be filed against the PNP members who made the false statements and without any credible basis defamed the prime minister concerning the question of when he came into awareness of an illicit enrichment probe,” Fitz-Henley said in a release.

At a press conference on Thursday, members of the PNP including party president Mark Golding suggested that Holness misled the country when he told the media last year that he wasn’t aware of any JLP parliamentarians being under investigation for illicit enrichment.

WATCH: ‘Trust and confidence in PM obliterated’ says Golding

Fitz-Henley said the prime minister spoke the truth when he indicated to the media on August 17, 2023 that he was not aware of any member of the JLP being written to by the Integrity Commission with an indication that they are under investigation for illicit enrichment.

“The prime minister and party leader takes his reputation seriously and will not allow members of the PNP to attempt to use false and malicous statements to destroy his character in their desperate bid for political power”, Senator Fitz-Henley reiterated.

Holness’ attorneys from the law firm Henlin Gibson Henlin in a release outlined what it said was the timeline of correspondence between Holness and the Integrity Commission which it said confirms that the prime minister “did not lie” when he said on August 17 that he was not aware of the investigation.

The attorneys noted that “… based on our records, it is only on the 18th August 2023 that it was communicated to us that the interview/investigation was being done under section 14(5) of the Corruption Prevention Act. We took, and maintained, the objection stated above in our letter of the 20th June 2023.

“This timeline and the documents confirm that at the time when our client addressed the matter on the 17th August 2023, the Integrity Commission had not communicated to our client that he was being investigated for illicit enrichment,” the attorneys said, adding that “Our instructions are to pursue legal action against persons who make statements in the public domain that are inconsistent with these facts.”

Meanwhile, the JLP also repeated its concern about what it says is the appearance that members of the PNP have unique access to information from the Integrity Commission.

“The party restates its call for the PNP to indicate how it will address a revelation in a recent newspaper report that at least five of their members, including a senior official, are under investigation for illicit enrichment,” the release stated.