The youth arm of the Jamaica Labour Party, Young Jamaica, has described as “pretentious and insincere” recent comments by People’s National Party (PNP) spokespersons Zuleika Jess and Nekeisha Burchell, who raised concerns about alleged leaks of Integrity Commission (IC) reports before being tabled in Parliament.

In a statement, Young Jamaica said the Opposition’s expressions of alarm were hypocritical, recalling that senior PNP members had previously appeared to possess prior knowledge of Integrity Commission reports before they were officially released.

The organisation cited remarks made in late 2024 by PNP General Secretary Dr Dayton Campbell and former General Secretary Julian Robinson, who, it said, predicted the tabling of reports that would “tarnish the Government’s standings”.

Young Jamaica argued that these instances demonstrated that PNP officials themselves had anticipated or commented on IC matters before they became public.

“At that time, neither Burchell, Jess, nor anyone else in the PNP reprimanded Campbell or Robinson or expressed concern about politicians having prior knowledge of the contents of an Integrity Commission report before it was tabled in Parliament,” the statement read. “Consequently, Young Jamaica views the expressions of apparent concern and alleged alarm from both women as both pretentious and hypocritical.”

The group also criticised Burchell for what it called an “obsession” with targeting media houses, saying the PNP should “back down from attacking the press” and respect the role of journalists in informing the public.

“The PNP has done tremendous damage to Jamaica’s press freedom reputation,” the statement continued. “We demand that the PNP and Burchell step back from their pompous, entitled, and arrogant approach to the media. Jamaica deserves better.”

Young Jamaica urged both Jess and Burchell to ensure their public statements reflect “cogency, consistency, sincerity, and a strong regard for the truth”.