BLAIR

Political Ombudsman, Bishop Herro Blair, is warning that he will be ensuring that the political code of conduct is obeyed in the lead-up to the next general election.

The warning came at a meeting yesterday with representatives of the two major political parties.

During the meeting, Bishop Blair also reportedly reiterated concerns that some candidates were reporting infringements of the political code of conduct to the media before making an official complaint to his office.

He told The Gleaner on Tuesday that the last two complaints of violations of the code were published in the press before they were formally brought to his attention by way of letters.

Following yesterday's meeting, the representatives of the two major political parties said they were satisfied with the discussions with the Political Ombudsman.

Peoples National Party (PNP) campaign administrator, Colin Campbell, said that as a result of the talks he would be consulting with some of his colleagues to ensure that infringements of aspects of the code do not recur. He referred to constituencies such as East St. Andrew, Central Westmoreland, Central St. Mary and Western Portland.

No unkind expressions

Mr. Campbell said there has been a commitment by his party to refrain from using unkind expressions to refer to contending candidates from the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).

Meanwhile, JLP General Secretary Karl Samuda said he, too, has made a commitment on behalf of his party to maintain dignity in all campaign activities.

"We will do everything in our power to comply," he said.