PNP says it will not be deterred by threat of legal action

The People's National Party (PNP) says the "spectre of a frivolous lawsuit" will not stop it from carrying out its duties and its constitutional responsibilities as the Opposition.

A statement by Legal Advisor to the PNP, Anthony Hylton, on Friday did not point to any specific threat of legal action.

However, on Thursday it was disclosed that Prime Minister Andrew Holness, had instructed his attorneys to initiate legal action against senior members of the PNP who “made several false and defamatory statements about when he came into awareness of an Integrity Commission probe concerning illicit enrichment” at a media conference that same day.

In his statement today, Hylton said the PNP would not be deterred by the threat of legal action.

"The People's National Party will continue to promote and defend the rights of the Jamaican people to good governance, transparency and probity in public life. The threat of legal action will neither deter nor distract from that mission," he said.

READ: PM threatens court action over misleading statements on probe

A two-page media release from the prime minister's attorneys-at-law Henlin Gibson Henlin on Thursday stated that Holness did not lie about his status when he told journalists that he was not aware of any Government member of parliament being under probe for illicit enrichment.

The lawyers maintain that Holness was not aware of any investigation into his statutory declarations until August 18, 2023, a day after he told journalists that no parliamentarian on the Government's side was under probe.

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