With Jamaica being less than two weeks away from its next general election, the two main political parties are promising to publish their election manifestos next week.
The governing People's National Party (PNP) has announced that it will release its manifesto on Tuesday, and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), while not giving a specific day, has also said it will be done during the coming week.
Concerns have been raised about the slow pace of the two major parties in releasing their election manifestos, even as members of the private sector and civil society continue to express disappointment at the stalemate in relation to the PNP's refusal, so far, to participate in pre-election debates.
Crucial platform
It has been argued that the debates would provide a crucial platform for the plans of the parties to be aired.
Warren McDonald,President of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce,told RJR News that, with the staging of the debates in jeopardy, the election manifestos take on even greater importance, as another avenue through which the detailed plans and policies of the parties may be better scrutinised.
"Without that, I think there's a big vacuum, and people are not able to make a rational and logical decision, so we are very concerned about the lack of information on the policies, going forward," he said.
PNP
At the PNP's press conference on Friday, Dr. Peter Phillips, the Party's Campaign Director, outlined other plans of the party to ensure that it gets its message across to voters, including "a series of national broadcasts...beginning Monday (Febuary 15)."
These, he said, would be continue "until the eve of the elections."
JLP
Daryl Vaz, JLP Spokesman, at his Party's press conference on Friday, said it was the JLP's intention to release its manifesto "prior to the first debate."
That first debate, proposed by the Jamaica Debates Commission (JDC), was to have been held on Tuesday, February 16.
That debate plan has been overtaken by subsequent events, however, with the JDC announcing on Friday evening that it had had to abandon that date, in light of the insistence of the PNP that it will not participate in the debate, unless its recently stated conditions are met.
The JLP was working "assiduously" on its manifesto, Mr. Vaz said, explaining that every effort was being made to ensure "that everything that we put in that manifesto can be justified and doable..."
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