Former political ombudsman calls for good conduct on campaign trail

 

As the election campaign intensifies, former Political Ombudsman Donna Parchment Brown is calling for both the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People's National Party (PNP) to exercise caution in their conduct on the campaign trail.

 

She warns that the behaviour of political operatives has the potential to unfairly influence voters and weaken the integrity of the democratic process.

 

Mrs. Parchment Brown's comments come amid rising tensions, including complaints from candidates about the removal of campaign posters and other alleged acts of misconduct.

 

She is urging all political actors to be especially mindful of their actions, noting that poor conduct could discourage voter turnout and unfairly sway public opinion.

 

"The people who are already on board with you may be inspired by negative political acts like tearing down campaign material and so on. But the people who you are trying to woo, who are not already in your camp, may remain undecided, which would be fatal because the election turnout is going to be a very important matter. 

 

"So those who are already thinking you're not all that, every time they hear a report about negative conduct by you or your supporters, I think there's a whole bunch of people who say 'No, I cyah bother with these people.' So to me, it would be in the best interest of the political organisations to say, what could inspire the public to vote for my people? Because people say, well, if you behave like this and it's only the campaign, what can we expect from you in the Parliament?" she reasoned.

 

Mrs. Parchment Brown also urged politicians not to use public spaces such as schools and churches. 

 

She also called for all political hopefuls to be made aware of the political code of conduct.

 

"I'm hoping that by the time the election is announced, there will be a signing and education ceremony for all the candidates because we assume that people know things, which they don't know. So one of the things we used to do was the Custos would host all the candidates for the parish. They would go through the code of conduct. They would be presented with the code of conduct. From then, they could be held accountable. Because sometimes people do foolish things not knowing any better," she suggested. 

 

The former ombudsman also sought to clarify that though an election has not yet been called, by law, candidates are allowed to campaign.

 

Meanwhile, Mrs. Parchment Brown said with the introduction of artificial intelligence, including deep fakes, politicians must take strict action to ensure their online platforms are not brought into disrepute. She added that it is important for them to safeguard themselves and their interests at this time.

 

"If you see something that you have a challenge with as an aspirant, I would make a report to the political ombudsman commission and I would file an action in the court. Now, the commission can make a ruling long before the court is able to finalise what it is doing... and the candidate or prospective candidate would still have the opportunity, now and later, to be before the court.

 

"The difficulty with being before the court is that the election may be decided before you're able to get your $20 million of damages, which was the cold comfort if you have lost the election because of the damage," she admitted.

 

But Mrs. Parchment Brown said these actions should be enough to deter those intent on causing mayhem during this period.

 

"The mere fact of the report to the political ombudsman and how they handle it, how they speak to these matters, and the fact that you've taken it so far as to file an action in court, I think, will also send a strong message to the public. And people have the right - [if] one person is sending out negative social media messages that go viral, you also have the opportunity to use technology to send out messages that don't attack other people, but more importantly, send out your message."

 

Mrs. Parchment Brown was a guest Monday on the Morning Agenda on Power 106 FM.