Listening to my favourite local radio station recently, I was discomfited by the news and the commentary that followed when the hosts referred to the Shower Posse as an affiliate of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) in discussing the release of Vivian Blake from United States custody. The Spangler Posse was the People's National Party's (PNP) supposed rival affiliate.

While I appreciate that there was a dark period in Jamaica's history when the two major political parties allegedly used criminal elements to influence the electoral process or marshal electoral support, it never occurred to me, perhaps naively, that there was any official connection between the political parties and criminal gangs to the extent that these gangs would be considered affiliates of the political parties.

Alleged links

Today, we have the One Order gang, which is often reported as linked to the JLP, and the Klansman gang, reportedly affiliated with the PNP.

The JLP, in its 2007 manifesto, promised to enact legislation to provide for the impeachment of public officials and the appointment of a special prosecutor to prosecute public officials for misconduct and corruption. A part of the thinking was that any politician who involves himself in criminal wrongdoing or embraces criminal elements as a means of obtaining political support would be removed from office and would be barred, whether for a fixed period or permanently, from political service.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding must ensure that such pieces of legislation are dealt with expeditiously so that we can seriously deter and penalise our politicians for associating with criminals for political or other benefits so we can begin the well overdue de-garrisoning of our politics.

I am, etc.,

KEVIN SANGSTER

sangstek@msn.com