KINGSTON, Jamaica — Government Senator and member of the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) Communications Taskforce, Marlon Morgan, is hailing the settlement of a defamation lawsuit between Energy Minister Daryl Vaz and People’s National Party (PNP) General Secretary Dayton Campbell as a victory for truth, decency and accountability in Jamaica’s political life.

“I am among those who welcomed the legal proceedings brought back in August 2023 by Daryl Vaz, James Robertson and Othneil Lawrence against the PNP’s embattled General Secretary Dayton Campbell. I equally welcome the subsequent settlement that has been arrived at between the parties,” Morgan said in a release on Thursday.

“Dayton Campbell has rightfully apologised to Vaz, Robertson and Lawrence and in his statement of apology, accepted that his vile, reckless and defamatory platform utterances had no foundation in truth, and indeed, are categorically false,” he continued.

Vaz, former JLP Member of Parliament (MP) for St Ann North Western Othneil Lawrence, and MP for St Thomas Western James Robertson (JLP) had all filed lawsuits against Campbell over comments he made while naming them during a PNP meeting in Clarendon on July 27, 2023. The allegations in that broadside were primarily levelled at Vaz, but all three claimed they were “false, malicious and defamatory”.

The suit, subsequently filed in the Supreme Court by Vaz’s attorney Catherine Minto, had sought damages for defamation, exemplary and/or aggravated damages, interest pursuant to Section 3 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, an injunction restraining Campbell from “further publishing or causing to be published in spoken word or written form the said or similar words defamatory of the claimant”, costs, and such further and/or other relief as the court deemed just. The matter was listed for trial beginning Tuesday, July 7.

However, on Wednesday, Alexander Williams, the attorney for Lawrence and Robertson, and attorneys for Campbell, Shena Stubbs Gibson and Ruel Gibson, indicated to trial judge Justice Tricia Hutchinson that the matters had been “amicably settled” and furthermore “settled on the terms endorsed” on the briefs they held.

Campbell has since apologised to Vaz and his family for the statements and agreed “not to repeat them or the innuendos and insinuations at any time in the future”.

READ: Dayton Campbell says sorry

“By holding Dayton Campbell’s feet to the fire, Vaz, Robertson and Lawrence have secured a victory for civility, accountability and responsibility in our political discourse. There are far too many examples of people being defamed or having their reputation otherwise besmirched as a result of politically-motivated falsehoods and coordinated character assassination,” Morgan said.

The senator said members of the Government and the JLP will continue to push back against what he described as “baseless, malicious and defamatory utterances” by the PNP.

“We are prepared to seek redress in the courts and send a strong and unequivocal signal to the PNP operatives and their surrogates that their politically-orchestrated and contrived falsehoods will not be tolerated,” Morgan added.