Some MPs still battling with 'conscience'

How will they vote on the death penalty?
THE Bruce Golding-led Jamaica Labour Party Administration has indicated that a resolution calling for a conscience vote on the death penalty is soon to be put before the Jamaican Parliament.

The motion, which was drafted by the Attorney General's Department, is now ready for presentation to the House. It is however not certain when it will be laid.
Hanging remains on the law books although no one has gone to the gallows since 1988. Chapter 3 section 14 of the constitution, addressing the issue of capital punishment, says "No person shall intentionally be deprived of his life save in execution of a sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been convicted".

One of the most common responses to any upsurge in crime is usually a call for the resumption of hanging, which international and local rights groups have urged the Government to resist.

Senator AJ Nicholson, the former attorney general and minister of justice, has said that the time is ripe for both the Government and the Opposition to decide whether or not capital punishment should resume. The Government has indicated its willingness to take a conscience vote on the matter in Parliament.
In a 'free conscience vote', the House of Representatives on January 30, 1979 voted for the retention of the death penalty, but the Senate later voted for a limited suspension.

PNP Maxine Henry-Wilson: MP, St Andrew South Eastern"I haven't made up my mind yet. I'm undecided."

PNP Dr Omar Davies: MP, St Andrew Southern "I'm for the law."
PNP Roger Clarke: MP, Westmoreland Central "I am still consulting with my constituents."

JLP Derrick Smith: MP, St Andrew North Western "My position hasn't changed; once you find them guilty, accelerate the appeal and put them away 'effectively'.

JLP Pearnel Charles: MP, Clarendon North Central "I follow the law until it is changed."

JLP Edmund Bartlett: MP, St Andrew Eastern "I support the death penalty for crime. Whatever issues I may have are with regard to the means of executing it."