Arthur Hall, Senior Staff Reporter

Political analysts are divided over whether Kern Spencer should resign as a member of parliament.

For attorney-at-law Paul Ashley, Spencer should not only resign as an MP but should also walk away from the People's National Party.

According to Ashley this would be a brilliant pre-emptive political strike by the young politician.

"Spencer should act before the Ethics Committee of Parliament decides to take action against him," Ashley suggests.

Not sitting in Parliament

He argues that by resigning from the PNP, Spencer would take the heat off the party.

"People would stop calling on the PNP to respond to every issue concerning the case."

Ashley rejects the argument that by resigning Spencer would be signalling that he is guilty of some wrongdoing, arguing that "already he is not sitting in Parliament and not representing the people of his constituency".

Different story

However, it's a different story for trade unionist and political commentator, Lambert Brown, who sees no reason for Spencer to give up his seat in the House.

Brown points to former Prime Minister of Britain, Tony Blair, who did not resign when he was accused of abusing his powers of patronage and appointing too many peers directly to the House of Lords.

"What if he (Spencer) is found not guilty, why should he give up his seat," Brown argues.

According to Brown, persons calling for the resignation of Spencer are not considering the views of the residents of his North East St Elizabeth constituency.

"Has anyone checked if they want their MP to resign?" Brown asks.

The trade unionist accepts that the arrest of Spencer has stained the PNP but argues that this would not change if he resigned.

"What will remove the stain is if he is acquitted," Brown said.

That's a view shared by talk show host and university lecturer Dr Orville Taylor.

"The PNP could lose even more ground by ditching Spencer now."

According to Taylor, "If the party presses Spencer to resign, it could lose more than it gains as persons will believe the PNP is abandoning him rather than helping through his time of trouble."

"It could also mean that the party is signalling that he's guilty," Taylor adds.

Representation issue

The talk show host accepts that there is a representation issue as Spencer will be on leave from Parliament while dealing with his legal problems, "but the people might not want anybody else".

Spencer was released on bail last Friday after being slapped with nine charges on Wednesday.