Blair urges PM, opposition leader to end impasse
POLITICAL Ombudsman Bishop Herro Blair has called on Prime Minister Bruce Golding and Opposition Leader Portia Simpson Miller to mend fences before venturing into a new year.
Blair, in his Christmas greeting to the nation, insisted that “meaningul dialogue must replace the present impasse” between the two.
“Both leaders must come to the table with solutions; they must speak with one voice thereby fostering a climate of unity, co-operation and peace. With one voice and mind they must address the issues that speak to the security of the nation. Nothing less is acceptable,” he said.
Both leaders have been at loggerheads ever since Golding’s Jamaica Labour Party wrestled power from the People’s National Party in the September 3 polls by a razor-thin four seat majority. The relationship between the two was further strained by verbal sparring and a standoff over Golding’s dismissal of members of the Public Service Commission which has since brought a court challenge.
On Tuesday, Blair said while Jamaica was proud of the achievements of its nationals in the area of sports and academics there is still “grave cause of concern” in other areas.
“It is a sad commentary on our nation that crime and violence is raised to an all time high.There is nothing comical about the circumstances played out in our national life. They are rather heart-wrenching, despicable and intolerable,” he noted.
Pointing to recent police reports which show 47 murders being committed within a seven-day period, he said Jamaicans must “deplore and denounce the senseless blood letting and loss of lives of members of the security forces and citizens of the land”.
“I am of the belief that Jamaicans need to seek for the currently elusive love, unity and peace among their fellowmen,” he said, adding that “positive change of the moral state of the nation… must begin at the top”.