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During his contribution to the 2026/27 State of the Nation Debate in the Senate, Government Senator Marlon Morgan launched a forceful critique of opposition supporters, according to the Jamaica Observer. Morgan characterized members, surrogates, and social media figures aligned with the People’s National Party as engaged in a deliberate strategy of spreading false information and damaging Jamaica’s reputation for partisan advantage.
Morgan alleged that many of these individuals are financially incentivized to spread misinformation, claiming they receive payment from social media platforms and political benefactors. He called for Jamaica to implement criminal sanctions for defamation, describing the landscape of online political discourse as a "cesspool" with "no bottom."
A central focus of Morgan’s remarks was the opposition’s treatment of Jamaica’s security achievements. He highlighted that murder rates have reached 30-year lows, yet claimed that PNP-aligned bloggers deliberately misrepresent police actions by juxtaposing fatal shootings with murder reduction statistics to suggest misconduct. Morgan argued that Jamaica has independent mechanisms for investigating and holding police accountable.
Morgan also referenced a recent attack on police in Sligoville on October 16, in which Corporal Shaw and Constable Rose were killed. He alleged that well-known PNP bloggers celebrated these deaths on social media and questioned whether opposition leadership, including Opposition Leader Mark Golding, had publicly condemned such rhetoric.
Concluding his remarks, Morgan characterized the opposition as "power hungry" and suggested it would go to extreme lengths, including destabilizing the nation, to gain political control.
The State of the Nation Debate is an annual parliamentary occasion in Jamaica where government and opposition lawmakers present their assessments of the country’s condition and priorities. The 2026/27 debate took place in late October 2026, amid ongoing political tensions between the governing Jamaica Labour Party and the opposition People’s National Party.
This reflects Jamaica’s intense domestic political polarization and the role of social media in shaping electoral discourse across the Caribbean, where misinformation campaigns have become a recurring feature of political competition.
Sources and attribution
- Jamaica Observer
- Jamaica Records 24 Per Cent Reduction in Murders
- Jamaica homicides drop 24% to 407 in 2026, lowest quarterly figures in 30 years
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