The Real Mr. Warmington Has No Apology

Minister of State for Transport and Works Everald Warmington finally came down from his high horse yesterday and apologized to the people of Jamaica for his brainless utterance on December 2nd, when he told voters that they would not get hurricane relief if they didn’t vote for the JLP in local government elections. While the G2K and the JLP would want us to believe that the unsigned apology issued to the Jamaican people is sincere and represents the real thoughts of Mr. Warmington, there is enough evidence to prove otherwise.

Firstly, the apology came ten days after the MP’s outburst and from this we can conclude that it was not a slip of the tongue by him but a deliberate and calculated statement coming from his own character convictions. People hardly ever apologize for actions or comments they believe in or that they are convinced is right. They may do so just to appease others or to minimize the hurt caused.

Secondly, it took not only ten days but also a meeting with the Prime Minister to wring the apology from the brains of Mr. Warmington. From this we can make two assumptions. The first is that the MP apologized because he wants to save his job and secondly Mr. Golding may have reminded him about the kind of promises he made to the people of Jamaica, about the style of politics and governance they would get under his leadership. Mr. Warmington knows that it would have been easier for the Prime Minister to fire him rather than compromise his promises to the people.

Thirdly, according to the Gleaner, the apology was not signed. This is the mother of them all and a big slap in the face of the Jamaican people. A signature does three things; it provides provenance for the document, it shows the intent or will of the person signing the document and it shows the commitment of the signor. Without Mr. Warmington’s signature none of these exist and therefore cannot be taken as sincere.

But this is not the first time that Mr. Warmington has displayed his arrogance and contempt for integrity and morality. We can recall his May 2004 parliamentary speech in which he said, “people who don't vote in elections should not expect support from elected representatives." In that same speech he also stated that his motto was: "If you don't vote, you don't count."

Mr. Warmington’s history of outrageous and erratic behaviour does not stop there however and has landed him on the wrong side of the law on at least two occasions. On March 9, 2004 he was in the Spanish Town Registrate Court to answer charges of punching a bus driver in his face with whom he had an accident in December the previous year. In 2005 he was back in court on a similar charge, this time for allegedly pushing one Edris Nembhard, a dressmaker, in her stomach which caused her to fall on her back and injured herself. According to the Jamaica Observer of September 16th, it was stated in court that “Mr. Warmington stormed out of the office in a very boisterous manner, telling her to leave, as she had not voted for him and she had no right to be there.”

It may have been this type of behaviour that led members of his constituency to lock him out of his office last year while placing placards on the fence reading “Warmington is disrespectful,” “Warmington must go,” and “Away with Warmington.” At that time he blamed four NDM returnees to the party who wanted him out of office.

Last year Mr. Warmington resigned from the post of JLP Area 2 council Chairman. He sited as his reason the party’s selection process in the council. He added that he did not feel “comfortable with the current methods by which decisions are made by the officers of this party” and that he could not allow his presence as chairman of the Council to “legitimize the constant illegal decisions being made by the group.”

From all indication the MP stepped down from his post as a matter of principle. But principle in any way, sort or form we now know does not exist in his bone.

With this much baggage one wonders how did Mr. Golding make his choice when considering Mr. Warmington. With all the talk of decency in politics and governance, was the due diligence process followed or was it a case of picking the best of all the evils? As part of the current government's plans to have good governance, they have outlined in their manifesto that they will "enact provisions for the impeachment of public officials for misconduct, corruption, abuse of office or betrayal of public trust." We hope the accelerator is pressed hard and fast to the floor on this one because what has happened in the past and what is happening now cannot go on any longer.