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Montego Bay mayor asked to explain removal of PNP campaign posters

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Justice Minister Delroy Chuck
 
Justice Minister Delroy Chuck has reiterated his call for the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) to share its direction for the office of the political ombudsman with the public, even as it has been reported that it has intervened in the dispute relating to the removal of campaign posters in Montego Bay, St. James. 
 
The stand-alone Office of the Political Ombudsman was subsumed into the ECJ last year. 
 
The Gleaner reported on Thursday that a letter dated April 25 under the signature of ECJ chairman, Earl Jarrett, was dispatched to Mayor of Montego Bay Richard Vernon, asking that he provide a written explanation outlining the legal authority and basis for the decision to remove the posters. 
 
This follows a complaint from the People's National Party. 
 
Mr. Chuck on Wednesday revealed that the ECJ had appointed an individual to act as political ombudsman.
 
Speaking Thursday on the Morning Agenda on Power 106, the Justice Minister was asked whether the intervention in the Montego Bay matter should have come from the ECJ chairman or the individual appointed to act as political ombudsman.
 
"Here again, it is for the ECJ to indicate how it proposes to carry out the mandate of the political ombudsman. So it's not to me to say that that is the appropriate thing to do. It's quite clear to me that the ECJ as a body will be the body that makes decisions of the original stand-alone ombudsman. So it may well be that, you know, matters like this in terms of reflecting what the ECJ is doing, that the chairman is an appropriate person to send those letters...because who else would do it? It may well be the field officer, yes, but if it comes from the chairman of the ECJ, it has the force of the ECJ," he reasoned. 
 
Mr. Chuck also disclosed that he has the name of the individual appointed to act as political ombudsman, but would await the announcement by the ECJ.
 
The letter to the Montego Bay Mayor said while the ombudsman awaits his response, without taking any position as yet, the current period constitutes an active campaign period in the lead-up to the general election due by September 2025.


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