The People’s National Party (PNP) has called for a fair and just prosecution of Mayor Norman Scott, who is before the court facing assault charges in connection with an Election Day incident involving a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) indoor agent at a polling station.

READ: Spanish Town mayor charged with assault after election day altercation

In a news release on Saturday, the PNP said it notes with grave concern public utterances made by Senator Tom Tavares-Finson, KC, that he has applied to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for a fiat to prosecute Mayor Scott.

According to the PNP, it is widely known that Tavares-Finson is a political operative aligned with the ruling JLP and currently serves as a JLP-appointed senator, president of the Senate, and JLP-nominated commissioner of the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ). Against this background, it is wholly improper for a known political operative of the JLP to be granted a fiat to prosecute a political officer aligned with the opposing party, the PNP said.

The PNP said it maintains that the right to a fair trial is a universal human right that ensures justice is served based on evidence, not political considerations.

A fair trial requires an impartial and disinterested prosecutor, Opposition Spokesperson on Justice, Zuleika Jess said.

“It is a denial of justice to deprive an accused individual of basic fairness and impartiality. Prosecutors play an important role in preserving public trust in the justice system due to their unique role as ministers of justice,” Jess said.

She further observed: “Prosecutors are asked to exercise substantial discretion and are required to operate in a disinterested way. The public’s perception that the justice system operates in an unbiased manner is crucial to the administration of justice. Where the process is tainted by real or reasonably perceived prejudices, the public’s trust in the system is eroded. As often noted, both the appearance and reality of impartial justice are necessary to ensure public legitimacy of judicial outcomes and the rule of law.”

The PNP said it calls for due respect for the rights of all parties concerned and emphasised that true democracy demands impartiality, restraint, and equal protection of rights—not selective justice.

Scott, the defeated People’s National Party candidate for St Elizabeth South East in the recent September 3 election, was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and malicious destruction of property following an incident involving Jamaica Labour Party indoor agent Julie Francis at a polling station, BB Coke High School, in Junction on Election Day.