By Leonardo Blair, Staff Reporter 
Whiteman
BURCHELL WHITEMAN, minister of information, on Tuesday expressed concerns over what he called the integrity of the local political system and vowed to do everything he could to protect it.
The minister explained at a Kiwanis Club of Kingston luncheon at the Hilton Kingston Hotel that it is this concern which has forced a number of ageing politicians to remain in practice for extended periods.
"Some of us stay there because we believe that those of us from the old school should be there, as protection from others who don't share the same principles and values of the profession," said Mr. Whiteman in an interview with The Gleaner after his address.
On December 28, Opposition leader Edward Seaga, 74, told West Kingston delegates that he would be stepping down as MP to take up a post at the University of West Indies, Mona campus after more than 40 years in the position. Six months earlier, he announced that he would be stepping down as leader of the Opposition, Jamaica Labour Party, a position he also held for 30 years.
Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, who turns 70 this year, is also expected to vacate his position soon.
"I believe in giving service in a professional way. I don't want people who have certain connections in Parliament. We have to guard against that. We know we can't have perfection, but we have to try, so we will stay for as long as we can," explained the minister.
Mr. Whiteman, who pondered carefully before declaring that he was not aware of any wayward member in the new crop of politicians in his party, declined to give an evaluation of the system in general.
"I wouldn't say that we have found it difficult to keep the values in the present set of younger politicians, but we have concerns. I don't see any on my side, and I don't want to interfere with the other people. "I don't want to be drawn into anything, but we have to protect it from people with the wrong motives. It's just a concern I have lurking in the back of my mind," he said.
