PNP continues to hammer JLP on corruption
PEOPLE’S National Party (PNP) President Mark Golding has continued his relentless attack on the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) on the issue of corruption and has questioned whether Jamaicans would vote for more of the same in the upcoming general election.
“The people of this country are tired of the lack of integrity in public life. They’re tired of a Government that has been scraping and scraping what should be for the people’s benefit and ensuring that it goes into the pockets of themselves and dem friends and their cronies,” Golding said Sunday night.
He was addressing a sea of orange-clad supporters gathered in Mandeville Square, Manchester, for a PNP mass rally.
“That is why I am determined to bring a new form of governance to the country with integrity in the centre of everything we do and accountability our mantra, so that people can believe that their Government is working in their interest,” Golding promised.
“That is why, Comrades, we’re going to jook dem wid di impeachment legislation. We’re going to jook dem wid di unexplained wealth orders, we’re going to jook dem wid di disclosure of all financial returns for all members of our Government — not just the prime minister whose [declarations] can’t be published because he’s uncertified…,” the Opposition leader added.
He then made a direct pitch to PNP supporters and all Jamaicans: “Comrades, to all undecided voters out there and all persons who don’t consider themselves connected to a political party. Come the third of September you have a choice to make. Do you want to put Jamaica under five more years of corrupt rule… and where institutions of governance are under attack? Or do you want a Jamaica where the institutions of accountability are supported and strengthened and where the persons who are serving in Government have signed the leadership code of conduct?”
Golding said that all PNP representatives in the shadow cabinet have signed the Integrity Commission Code of Conduct, then charged that “not one JLP [member] has signed it. That is a signal of what to expect if those people come back to government again”.
Meanwhile, PNP General Secretary Dr Dayton Campbell suggested that the only way the JLP can win is if they steal the election. Addressing the same rally, he charged that, “they know that they can’t win this fair and square, and so they going to come with all sorts of chikeny”.
Campbell told the crowd that he has taken a decision and the PNP has bought integrity lamps for every single constituency, “so that we have trained our indoor agents [to] tek up yuh integrity lamp, look pon di voter ID, look fi di security mark”.
He said that in each constituency the workers have been given a security lamp, “so that [they] can look at the ID to make sure that the necessary security features are there. And if you see somebody come inna di polling station and yuh know to God dat wha him say him name, a nuh him name so, wi a go bawl out”.
The general secretary reminded that it is an offence, under sections 95 and 96 of the Representation of the People Act, for an individual to impersonate someone else.
“So Comrades, look out fi dem because a one man, one vote inna dis yah election. Dem nah tief dis,” Campbell said.
However, on Tuesday the ECJ, on which Campbell sits as a nominated commissioner, said, “By law, only specified equipment is allowed within the vicinity of polling stations and under the control of the presiding officer” and that “Only the presiding officer appointed by the Electoral Office of Jamaica is authorised to verify voter identification cards. No other person, including indoor agents, has the authority to carry out this verification. Furthermore, no integrity lamp outside of the official equipment issued by the EOJ will be used in the polling station during the verification process.”
