DAYTON’S DEFENCE

PUSHING BACK at criticism that he may be a liability to the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP), General Secretary Dr Dayton Campbell is asserting that his public pronouncements are merely part of his role as an “electrifying speaker” for the party.

Campbell has been a lightning rod for critics who have argued that his utterances on the political platform are gnawing at the party’s political currency with the electorate.

But the medical doctor has sought to pour cold water on that assessment, unwilling to accept the ‘controversial’ label being pinned to him.

The former member of parliament (MP) for St Ann North Western, who assumed the general secretary role three years ago after the PNP’s crushing defeat at the national polls, said its current leadership has steered the party from being behind by double digits in opinion polls to surge ahead of the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).

He said criticism of his conduct is a reflection of the Government’s unease with the electorate.

“The Government is panicking because of how we’ve been able to recover and where we’ve set the party,” said Campbell during Thursday’s Gleaner Editors’ Forum at the newspaper’s North Street headquarters.

“As a political party, it’s dynamic. You have different persons with different responsibilities, persons who are eminently qualified to speak to the middle class, the upper class [and] you have persons who speak to the base, persons who speak to the young people. We all have our roles,” he said.

Campbell said his role is to attack issues, ensure that the party defends its beliefs and remains firm in front of the Jamaican people.

‘VESTED INTERESTS’

He has the backing of Opposition Leader Mark Golding, who argues that there are “vested interests” in the country who are aware of the games they play and roles they have in politics.

“Sometimes you have to stand up against that and expose it for what it is. Not everybody is going to feel comfortable with it, but part of the general secretary’s role is to be forthright on these matters and be courageous,” Golding said.

His defence comes against the backdrop of three defamation claims filed against Campbell by members of the Holness Administration.

Attorneys for Cabinet Minister Daryl Vaz, St Thomas Western Member of Parliament (MP) James Robertson, and former MP for St Ann North Western Othneil Lawrence filed the claims last month in the Civil Division of the Supreme Court, arguing that he damaged their reputations while speaking at a PNP conference in Clarendon North Western in July.

The three are seeking more than $50 million in damages.

The statement centred on a 2015 rumour that was started by a JLP supporter who was subsequently sentenced to 30 months in prison for creating public mischief.

On Monday, Campbell made headlines after he referred to Nationwide News Network (NNN) as an incubator for the governing JLP.

Addressing a PNP constituency conference in St Andrew East Central on Sunday, he listed several former NNN employees who have left the radio station to take up senior public sector positions.

Quizzed on whether he believed that he had become a liability to the PNP, Campbell said: “Absolutely not.”

On this, he had additional support from PNP Chairman Dr Angela Brown Burke, who said that it is the responsibility of the party to call out things that they perceive to not be right.

“We have to defend the people of Jamaica from those who would want to down press them. What that means is that when we begin on that journey, there are some truths that are going to be uncomfortable.

“There are some things that need to be said that people are going to cry foul about, and we always have to just be clear about that. Sometimes people make a hullabaloo not because it’s untrue or because it’s not right, but it is also to try and ensure that they can keep you quiet,” said Brown Burke.

She said the PNP is conscious of those actions “and it is part of the risk that we run as a political party”.

kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com