Last week Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and Opposition Leader Bruce Golding, with key officials from their parties, met to discuss the framework within which they expect the general election that will be held this year will be conducted. We are glad that they did. So should all Jamaicans.

Not least of the reasons why we are encouraged by the encounter is the possibility that it may help to deter misguided supporters of Mrs. Simpson Miller's People's National Party and Mr. Golding's Jamaica Labour Party from doing stupid things, which could undermine the integrity of the poll and thereby weaken our democracy. Indeed, there seems to be cause for concern.

Several weeks ago the Peace Management Initiative (PMI), the Government-supported but independent group that works at conflict resolution in communities, reported that it had information about a stockpiling of weapons in some areas in preparation for the election.

This claim was followed by a similar assertion by the police chief, Lucius Thomas. While people can afford to be sceptical, even if unreasonably, of an organisation like the PMI, we have to take serious note of the declarations of Mr. Thomas. We can only assume that he speaks from the basis of sound intelligence, if not hard facts, at least of the kind that can gain conviction in a court of law.

Of course, we would have preferred if Mr. Thomas had pursued the latter route: gathering information, making arrests, charging people and taking them to court. Speaking out as he did, which might have driven the gunrunners underground, without the prospect of the security forces apprehending the weapons, should have been an act of the very last resort. But Mr. Thomas did what he did.

We hope that those statements do not become self-fulfilling prophecies. Perhaps, though, they helped to galvanise the leaders into last week's meeting with the Political Ombudsman Bishop Herro Blair. In this respect, the statements would have served a useful purpose.

What is important now is what happens next - and up to the election. Bishop Blair at last week's meeting reminded the political leaders and the parties of the Political Code of Conduct that they signed before the last general election in 2002. There is the upgraded code, at the insistence of the private sector, that all parliamentarians and constituency caretakers signed and committed themselves to in 2005.

However, there has been significant change in political personnel since those documents were signed. Now that both sides have in place nearly all their candidates for the election, it is important that they should now sign the document. Immediately.

Moreover, Bishop Blair should aggressively step up his campaign and election-monitoring mechanism so as to penalise politicians and parties which break the rules. He must send the signal early that he means business.

At the level of the political leaders, we suggest that they meet regularly to discuss both national issues and matters related to the election, both for its symbolic and practical value. Both Mrs. Simpson Miller and Mr. Golding have told their parties that they want a clean, peaceful campaign. If their supporters see them talking, they are less likely to perceive them in a contest of conflict. And they themselves can work through issues before they deteriorate. We are looking for a new quality of leadership.

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