Contributed photos
LEFT: Everald Warmington, State Minister for Water and Housing.
RIGHT: Bobby Montague, State Minister with responsibility for Local Government.

Athaliah Reynolds, Staff Reporter

A call by observer group Citizens Action For Free and Fair Elections (CAFFE), for two junior government ministers to resign in the wake of recent comments on the political stage, has been immediately dismissed by one of those named.

Everald Warmington, State Minister for Water and Housing, yesterday brushed aside CAFFE's concerns as he trivialised its call for his removal.

"They did not employ me, so they cannot dismiss me," Mr. Warmington scoffed when contacted by The Gleaner yesterday afternoon.

The independent observer group yesterday called for the resignations of Mr. Warmington and Robert Montague, State Minister with responsibility for Local Government, who it accused of breaching the Corruption (Prevention) Act through statements made recently in the run-up to Wednesday's local government elections.

Condemned

Nancy Anderson, member of the board of directors of CAFFE, yesterday told The Gleaner that the organisation "unreservedly condemns the statements of both ministers".

In a release issued yesterday, the local election watchdog organisation said: "It is clear that the only decent thing for Messrs. Warmington and Montague to do is to tender their resignations."

Mr. Warmington told residents of Old Harbour Bay in St. Catherine that if they did not vote for the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), they would not receive hurricane-relief cheques. The minister went as far as to tell the supporters that he had spoken with Pearnel Charles, Minister of Labour and Social Security, and had told him that the cheques should not be sent out until after the elections.

Mr. Montague, a minister without portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister, reportedly told supporters that only if they voted for the JLP councillor, would the roads in their community be repaired.

When contacted by The Gleaner yesterday, he said he was unwilling to make any comment until after he had met with Prime Minister Bruce Golding.

According to Ms. Anderson, who is also a human rights lawyer with the Independent Jamaica Council for Human Rights, CAFFE would not have normally intervened unless it thought the ministers' statements were a deliberate attempt to corrupt the voting process.

"We have always remained neutral, but in this instance we thought that this was an attempt to affect the people's right to vote and stood in the way of a free and fair election," she said.

Ms. Anderson said that, under the Corruption (Prevention) Act, it is an offence for any public official or state official to solicit any benefit or advantage from another person for doing any act in the performance of his public functions.

"To threaten or arrange for the cheques to be issued or roads repaired only if electors vote or support a particular candidate appears to be aiding and abetting a criminal offence," she added.

Bribery

CAFFE further argued that the Representation of the People Act "treats the direct or indirect offer or promise to obtain or endeavour to obtain any money for any voter in order to induce the voter to vote or refrain from voting as the criminal offence of bribery."

CAFFE said: "It is well known that there is a link between criminal violence and the distribution of scarce benefits on the basis of partisan support. It is most unfortunate that, at this critical time in our nation's affairs, highly placed officials should act in such a reprehensible manner."

Prime Minister Dr. Ken Baugh yesterday told The Gleaner that the matter was under investigation and that the JLP will make a detailed statement at a later date.

Prime Minister Golding was to have met with the two junior ministers on Thursday, but that meeting was postponed until his return today from the 12th special meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community in Guyana.

athaliah.reynolds@gleanerjm.com