Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer
Political Ombudsman, Bishop Herro Blair.
AFTER A month of meetings, representatives of the two major political parties and the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) appear set to sign the revised Code of Political Conduct.
The document will include sections of the PSOJ's Emancipation Park declaration which had demanded that politicians disassociate themselves from criminals.
Yesterday, Bishop Herro Blair, the Political Ombudsman, told The Gleaner that representatives of the governing People's National Party (PNP) and Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), as well as the PSOJ, found common ground on the final draft during a meeting Wednesday at the Ministry of National Security.
EVERYTHING ACCEPTED
"Everything has been accepted. What we did was merge points from the first document with the new one," said Bishop Blair.
He said the next step for his office will be to prepare the draft for legal consideration. He was non-committal as to how long it would be before all concerned sign the final document.
He pointed out that several new proposals were made by the political parties and his office. The PNP and JLP submitted five points each while Bishop Blair posted two; he did not comment on the nature of these additions but said all were approved.
As for the contentious clause by the PSOJ calling for politicians to disassociate themselves from criminals and criminal activity, Mr. Blair said that was also sorted out.
"That has been clearly stated with all coming to an understanding," he said.
The clause demanding that politicians and public officials distance themselves from criminals was the focal point of the PSOJ document which was made public during a public rally to denounce out-of-control crime at Emancipation Park on May 25. The PSOJ had demanded that the politicians sign the document by June 15.
Initially, several Members of Parliament reacted angrily to this section of the document, saying it suggested that they were involved in, or supported, criminal behaviour. The PSOJ relented and agreed to make amendments to the document. It was also agreed that the original Code of Political Conduct signed between the JLP and PNP be amended to incorporate sections of the Emancipation Park Declaration.
In addition to Bishop Blair, Minister of National Security, Dr. Peter Phillips, Minister of Justice, A.J. Nicholson, Derrick Smith, the Opposition Spokes-man on national security, and Peter Moses of the PSOJ attended Wednesday's meeting.
