MANCHESTER, Jamaica — People’s National Party president Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller says her party is not afraid to debate the Opposition Jamaica Labour Party.

Simpson Miller made the comment while speaking to hundreds of Comrades gathered in Mandeville square, Manchester, a short while ago.

“We are not afraid to debate anybody. I debated Bruce Golding in 2007; I debated Andrew Holness and I beat him,” she said to tumultuous applause.

“They must deal with the issues that I have put on the table, then we can talk about debate,” said Simpson Miller.

The PNP last week indicated that it would not participate in any planned political debate until Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) leader Andrew Holness addresses what the party terms as “disgraceful and disrespectful” references about Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller.

The move was widely seen as an attempt by the ruling party to weasel out of the debates.

PNP General Secretary Paul Burke told the Jamaica Debates Commission (JDC) in a letter last week that the party feels that Holness’s conduct was relevant and critical to its participation in the debates, describing as “irresponsible” his statements regarding the shooting in Sam Sharpe Square on Sunday night at a JLP rally, which left two people dead.

The PNP also wants the 90-minute leadership debate to be done in the town-hall format used for the Democratic Party presidential candidates in the United States. The JLP, on the other hand, has confirmed that it will accept the JDC’s proposal for the three debates, using the format that was used in 2011.

The JDC has said it is not possible to meet the PNP’s demands as it could not get involved in the row between the two political parties, nor does it have enough time and resources to put the systems in to facilitate a town-hall debate.

Kimone Francis