We had dared to hope that the reduced levels of violence characteristic of the last two general elections and the early days of this year's campaign would prevail into tomorrow's polls. Clearly, there are scoundrels who do not wish this to be so.

Friday night's attacks on civilians, reported to be supporters of the People's National Party in Georges Valley, Manchester, and lower Mountain View Avenue in St. Andrew, and other attacks earlier in the week on persons reported to be Jamaica Labour Party supporters in Eastern St. Andrew and elsewhere, are nothing more than cynical attempts at manipulation and intimidation.

We are not so naïve as to believe that all attacks are what they appear to be on the surface. Jamaica's long history of political violence has included persons using everything at their disposal to make their opponents look bad.

In 1980, in one of the worst episodes of prolonged politically instigated violence in the history of this country, hundreds of people across the political divide were slaughtered, in the name of those seeking and those wanting to retain power. The ominous signs are upon us again. Voters did not allow themselves to be intimidated then and more than 80 per cent of the electorate turned out to cast their votes.

The same spirit of courage should be firmly set in the minds of all persons who cherish this country and are registered to vote. Do not allow yourselves to be intimidated by thugs fromany quarter. The future of Jamaica's democracy depends on people being able to cast their votes on the basis of a system that is free and fair and free from fear.

In this regard, the Constituted Authority, which has the power to cancel an election because of violence after voting has started in a particular constituency, needs to work closely with the security forces and to be especially wary of those who may seek to disrupt the process in areas where they believe they cannot win by fair means.

This has become, literally, a do-or-die battle for some of our politicians. Some in office cannot afford to lose. There is too much at stake and possibly yet to be revealed. Those on the outside are extremely hungry. The signs of desperation are showing up in various forms. The surge in gun violence and pamphlets with misleading information is indicative of the panic that has set in in different quarters.

And despite their protestations to the contrary, neither party has purged itself of the links to gun violence. Of course, the violence can always be directed and carried out by second- and third-tier activists who stand to benefit from the ingrained system of corruption in the awarding of contracts and other forms of pork-barrel politics.

The security forces have reported that their intelligence reports have given them a fair bit of information on where the miscreants are and where they are most likely to target. They need to act swiftly to ensure that Jamaicans are able to vote in as peaceful an atmosphere as possible. The good people of Jamaica must ensure that criminals do not have the ultimate say as to who sits in Parliament.

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