The People’s National Party, (PNP) says recent statements made by its leader Mark Golding about the casting of votes during the next general election, may have been misconstrued.
Speaking at a party conference in East Rural St. Andrew on Sunday Mr. Golding encouraged persons, to vote for the candidate for the constituency, Patrick Peterkin.
He suggested, that if there is a way to get persons who are not alive to vote for the party, this would not be a problem.
Some groups have taken issue with the statement, among them human rights lobby group Jamaicans For Justice, which has called on Mr. Golding to clarify his statement.
The Jamaica Labour Party has also urged Mr. Golding, to retract his statement.
However, the PNP said Mr. Golding’s statement, may have been misconstrued.
In a release on Monday evening, the PNP said its leader’s utterances were reported on without proper context.
According to the party, Mr. Golding emphasized the significance of rallying support from all supporters willing and able to cast their votes.
It said the statement in question was a light-hearted response to a remark from a supporter who said, “…wake dem up…” to which Mr. Golding later added, “cause as they say we are the power party.”
The PNP said without context, the portion of the speech which is in the public domain has been misconstrued as literal when it was, in fact, intended as humour and was purely figurative in nature.
It said it upholds the principles of free and fair elections, ensuring the integrity of Jamaica’s democratic process.
In the meantime, the party is urging the electoral commission of Jamaica to ensure that the voters’ list is cleaned up, as no political party should be able to cause dead persons to vote in Jamaican elections.
