Under fire Warmington’s comments re Golding ‘unfortunate’, says Chang Loop Jamaica

Black Immigrant Daily News

Cabinet Minister and Member of Parliament (MP) for South West St Catherine, Everald Warmington, continues to face fire over purported racial comments that he made about Opposition Leader Mark Golding on the weekend just gone.

However, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), while describing the comments by Warmington as ‘unfortunate’, said they do not reflect the inclusive nature of the party which has a mixture of races among its membership.

“… The comment is a political comment, because I think Mr Warmington was responding to some comments (that were) made before,” said JLP General Secretary, Dr Horace Chang, at a party press conference on Thursday.

“It’s such an unfortunate comment, but there is no way (there is) any ethnic divisions in Jamaica in the political arena,” declared Chang, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister.

Dr Horace Chang

Known for his controversial statements and tongue lashings of Opposition colleagues in Parliament, and members of the media, Warmington took to the stage of a JLP meeting in Cheesefield, North East St Catherine on Sunday, where he took on issues relative to the racial background of the People’s National Party (PNP) president.

“Weh Mark Golding mother and father come from? If he wants to be prime minister, guh back a England, Ireland, Wales, and Scotland, but him nah beat Andrew Michael Holness,” Warmington told party supporters.

“I don’t talk about colour and race, but they (the PNP) started it, so let me finish it. Dem seh (former Prime Minister Edward) Seaga born up deh so, but weh fi dem leader come from? Backra master,” Warmington added.

In response to the development, the powerful and influential Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), led by Keith Duncan, issued a statement on Wednesday, in which it condemned Warmington’s comments, describing them as “divisive” and statements that “have no place in the Jamaican context now or in the past, as it is totally inconsistent with our motto, ‘Out of Many, One People’.”

Keith Duncan

In fact, the PSOJ suggested that the politician’s utterances contradicted the Political Code of Conduct, which requires that party officials should not make statements which “are malicious in reference to opposing candidates, their families and party officials”.

Added the PSOJ: “We cannot expect to positively address our social issues if our leaders display poor judgement in their tone and statements towards each other. Distasteful and divisive statements from either side of the political fence cannot be condoned or supported.”

It has since been reported that Political Ombudsman Donna Parchment Brown has advised Warmington and the general secretaries of both major political parties that she has launched a probe into the controversial remarks.

Warmington, in his usual blunt style, has since scoffed at the probe by the ombudsman and the reprimand that was issued by the PSOJ, in a media interview.

“The likkle ting weh yuh call PSOJ, did they condemn Mark Golding when him call the chairman of the party (JLP), Bobby Montague, the likkle bwoy? Did they? No, they didn’t,” Warmington is quoted as saying by a local media house.

Golding had been asked by Parchment Brown to publicly apologise for his comment about Robert Montague or pay a fine of $20,000, but to date, there has been no indication that the Opposition leader has apologised.

Despite that description of Montague by her party president, PNP Chairman, Dr Angela Brown Burke, said Prime Minister Andrew Holness should address the “racially-charged” comments from Warmington against Golding.

“It was said on a JLP platform, and my understanding is that senior members of the JLP leadership were actually in attendance, and I believe where we are in the development of our country and what we expect of our leaders, that statement is an abomination, and should be rejected by the leadership of the Jamaica Labour Party,” insisted Brown Burke.

Dr Angela Brown Burke

“… The colour of a man’s skin or woman’s skin is not what recommends or denies them from any position in this country,” she said in a radio interview.

For Principal Director of National Integrity Action, Professor Trevor Munroe, Warmington should be dealt with by either being demoted or being asked to resign for his remarks.

While arguing that the comments by the senior politician were “out of order”, Munroe said the remarks could damage the integrity of the Government and weaken public trust in the Administration.

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