Bunting backs Campbell amid looming lawsuits
Published:Wednesday | August 16, 2023 | 12:09 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
PEOPLE’S NATIONAL Party (PNP) Senator Peter Bunting is voicing unwavering support for fellow party member and general secretary, Dr Dayton Campbell, who is currently facing three defamation lawsuits over remarks made at a political meeting in July.
Bunting made his position clear while addressing Sunday’s PNP South St James constituency conference at Anchovy High School in Anchovy, St James.
The meeting, from which Campbell was absent despite being listed as one of the senior PNP members to attend, was held to officially present Nekeisha Burchell as the party’s candidate for the constituency.
“[Campbell] and I had a conversation earlier today, a conversation in which he shared with me the results of the latest poll of South St James, the Don Anderson poll. I said to Comrade Campbell, ‘Look here, man, after seeing this poll, I will represent you in South St James, as there are other constituencies that need your attention as general secretary’,” Bunting told the supporters in explaining Campbell’s absence.
“I want to make that clear, because I do not want the ‘JLP FM’ to go carry it to say that because two little lawsuits spray at him, that make him shy away from coming here. Him is a hard man fi dead, mi a go tell you that,” Bunting added, taking a swipe at the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).
Earlier this month, JLP Member of Parliament for St Thomas Western, James Robertson, demanded $20 million and an apology from Campbell for what he said were defamatory statements made during a political meeting in July. The remarks also referenced Daryl Vaz, the minister of science, energy, telecommunications and transport, and former Member of Parliament for St Ann North Western Othneil Lawrence.
The remarks 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.
In a letter dated August 11, 2023, Robertson’s lawyers gave Campbell 24 hours to provide a response to their client’s demands. They said that, if he should fail to do so, a claim for damages would be filed in the Supreme Court.
Lawrence’s lawyers sent a similar letter to Campbell that day, stating that their client wanted $15 million for his statements and likewise threatening to file a claim in the Supreme Court.
To date, there has been no response from Campbell in relation to either of those letters.
Prior to the issuing of the letters from Robertson’s and Lawrence’s lawyers, Vaz filed a defamation lawsuit against Campbell in the Civil Division of the Supreme Court on August 4, alleging that the statements were motivated by malicious intent.
But in addressing Sunday’s meeting, Bunting referenced his own past experience with lawsuits, including one he brought against the JLP’s Audley Shaw for libel, which was settled on July 10, 2012, as a reason for his lack of worry for Campbell’s pending court battles.
“Trust me, my general secretary, who stands like a giant, can brush off all of them things. Don’t worry about those little lawsuits, [because] him nuh frighten for lawsuit. And I can tell you that I have sued some who are now in Cabinet on that side [JLP], and when we reach arbitration, they have to quickly apologise to me, and all now them nuh done pay me the money which was awarded,” said Bunting.
Shaw, who previously held Vaz’s transport portfolio, is no longer a member of the Cabinet.