THE Office of the Political Ombudsman is to open a probe into allegations that Delano Seiveright, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) candidate for the St Thomas Eastern constituency, was threatened by armed men during a reported stand-off on the weekend between JLP and People’s National Party (PNP) supporters.

Seiveright claimed that Dr Fenton Ferguson, who has held the seat since 1993, was among the PNP supporters who he alleged intimidated him and his supporters on Saturday.

He made the allegations in a letter of complaint yesterday to Police Commissioner Dr Carl Williams and copied to Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, Political Ombudsman Donna Parchment-Brown, and JLP General Secretary Dr Horace Chang.

A report was also made to the Morant Bay police of the alleged incident in the vicinity of the JLP constituency office in Port Morant.

“There will be an investigation at the level of the liaison officer and, depending on what comes from that, I will know what else is needed,” Parchment-Brown told the Jamaica Observer.

“I’m prepared to meet with both gentlemen on Monday afternoon if they are available to talk about what occurred,” she said in reference to Seiveright and Ferguson. “This development is the first one that I have heard of.”

In the letter, Seiveright said the JLP had been conducting a series of workers’ meetings when the incident occurred. He said the stand-off lasted for approximately 45 minutes and the men from the PNP group, whom he claimed were armed, made threats to him and some of his supporters.

He called on the commissioner to swiftly investigate the matter and take action to prevent any further incident and ensure his and his supporters’ safety.

Yesterday, the JLP alleged in a news release that a weapon was taken from one of the supporters by the police.

The JLP’s St Thomas Eastern Campaign Management Team said it is committed to a “peaceful and positive campaign focused on improving the lives of the people of St Thomas Eastern”.

Several attempts throughout yesterday to reach Dr Ferguson proved futile. However, last night he spoke to the issue at a political rally in the parish.

He described Seiveright’s claims as a “tissue of lies”, saying that no guns were involved and there was no intimidation.

“Everybody knows that I am a politician who does not promote violence,” Ferguson said, adding that there is a recording that will show what took place.

Meanwhile, Parchment used the opportunity to remind candidates to ensure that there is no clash of their supporters.

“If indeed, as has been reported to me, that there was a group in an area and another group went there, then I would encourage them not to do that so that the risk of confrontation is minimised,” Parchment-Brown said, “because confrontation can be triggered by many things”.

She added: “I’m really encouraging the candidates and the group leaders and the officers — those who have authority and responsibility — to really work with their supporters to keep to a minimum the contact with the other side, especially when they are in campaign mode.”