Member of Parliament for West Portland Daryl Vaz announced that the time has come for political leaders to campaign on their policies and performance and not on propaganda, innuendos, and nastiness.

During his speech at the Jamaica Labour Party Area Council Two Leadership Meeting at Lynch Park Buff Bay, Portland, Vaz outlined that political representatives and the people of Jamaica have a decision to make, that is to focus on performance rather than lies and propaganda.

“In December, when I met with my workers and my delegates, I said, on your marks. Today, I meet with the Area Council in Portland. Area Council two—Portland, St Thomas, St Mary and St Catherine—and I can say without fear of contradiction, today is get set, which means that our focus must be on political organisations and the performance of our government,” Vaz said.

He emphasised that the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is campaigning on their performance as opposed to the opposition party. “The opposition has not stated any plans, has not campaigned on their past performance, and has not stated their policies. Empty barrels make the most noise…. Labourites, as we approach the third term, it is not only about popularity, and it’s not only about being smart. This campaign has transformed itself into a battle for the truth. We face an opposition led by a disingenuous leader and a disingenuous general secretary who will stop at nothing to malign members of the Andrew Holness-led administration,” he added.

Vaz further outlined that while the recent polls from Dan Anderson and Blue Dot confirmed that the JLP is going for its third term, the party still has work to do. “A third term is not something you take for granted… So to my colleagues, make sure you don’t get caught up in the hype; you do the work because we have the performance to campaign on without a shadow of a doubt.

“Everybody knows that I don’t need a pollster to tell me what is happening. I’m a man of the ground; I stay on the ground. I don’t get caught up in the hype of ministry and the trappings, and that is part of the reason why I am successful, but I’m a political professor,” Vaz continued.

He also highlighted that the PNP continues to politicise the decisions of the Integrity Commission, particularly in the recent case of Prime Minister Andrew Holness. “Let me tell you where we are and what has transpired since September last year. The People’s National Party took a gamble, and they went all out up to their conference to build a vibe and to hype up the place because they thought that there would have been an early election based on the Integrity Commission report on Prime Minister Holness.

“They thought and were already picking ministries… let me say that the PNP politicise and has continued to politicise the work of the Integrity Commission for political advantage. It is wrong; the Integrity Commission and agencies such as that are independent and must be allowed to function without political interference or political use,” Vaz added.

He outlined that the PNP is in dismay because they are going down in the polls when they should be going up. “I can answer the question for them, Tom drunk, but Tom nuh fool. Tom wants to hear your plans and your policies. They don’t want the bad mind where you just tear down people and agencies of government.”

Vaz also announced that the opposition makes excuses for not presenting their policies by stating that the existing government will steal their ideas but announced that the Budget Debate commences on Tuesday, February 11. “The budget starts Tuesday with Minister Fayval Williams, followed by Prime Minister Andrew Holness. On their side, you will have Opposition Spokesman on Finance, Planning, and the Public Service, Julian Robinson, and Opposition Leader Mark Golding. You will be able to judge and see who has the better policies and who has the better performance because the numbers are going to be displayed in parliament, and the plans have to be displayed in parliament so we don’t have long to wait,” he noted.