PSOJ's call for Golding to apologise for Buchanan's comments 'misconceived', says PNP

 

The Opposition People's National Party (PNP) has described as "misconceived", PSOJ President Metry Seaga's call for its leader, Mark Golding, to apologise for comments made by attorney Isat Buchanan about Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paula Llewellyn.

 

The PSOJ president, who made the call Wednesday while speaking on the Morning Agenda on Power 106, said although Mr. Buchanan has apologised, he expected the PNP president to address the issue. 

 

But the party says it took immediate steps to deal with the issue, noting that the Mr. Golding spoke with Mr. Buchanan the same night the comments were made. This, the PNP says, resulted in Mr. Buchanan's resignation as Chairman of the PNP's Human Rights Commission and the issuance of a public apology.

 

The PNP has also issued a broadside against the PSOJ for what it calls the glaring bias in the utterances.

 

The PNP says while it appreciates the PSOJ's concerns about civility and decorum in public discourse, it also expects that such calls for accountability be uniformly applied across all political parties and their members.

 

It adds that it is important to the country that the PSOJ remains impartial and consistent in holding all leaders and organisations accountable for their actions and statements.

 

The PNP says it finds the request by the PSOJ to be hypocritical, as it says the organisation has never made such a request of Prime Minister Andrew Holness and the Jamaica Labour Party, despite many offensive utterances and remarks by members of his party, including Everald Warmington.

 

It also says there has been no reprimand from the PSOJ for now independent MP George Wright, who was purportedly caught on video assaulting a woman or JLP Councillor David Brown, who has been the subject of multiple charges of physically abusing women.

 

The PNP cites as the most egregious act, that of the Prime Minister in inviting Osbourne Ellis, also known as Peanut Dread, to be his personal guest during his contribution to the Budget Debate in Parliament. Peanut Dread, the PNP says, has made crass and violent statements about women.