PNP lashes Government over absence from UNGA vote on Gaza truce

The Opposition People's National Party (PNP) has described Jamaica's absence from Friday's United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) vote on a resolution calling for a "humanitarian truce" in Gaza as a "new low" in the island's foreign policy history.

On Friday evening, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Kamina Johnson Smith, explained Jamaica's absence, saying that deliberations were still taking place when the vote was finalised. 

However, in a media release on Saturday, the PNP said the explanation is unacceptable and "lacks merit, as consultations should have been timed to enable Jamaica to vote in favour of the resolution."

"This vote marked the UN General Assembly's first significant response to the humanitarian tragedy resulting from Israel's collective punishment of the civilian Palestinian population in Gaza. Jamaica's non-participation in support of such a significant resolution is inexcusable," the PNP continued.

The Opposition said the "unfortunate episode" gives the impression that the Government is not interested in standing in solidarity with the suffering Palestinian civilians.

"We hope that this impression will be promptly and definitively dispelled by the Government. There should be no recurrence of this major failure in our foreign policy conduct," the PNP said.

The 193-member world body adopted the resolution by a vote of 120-14 with 45 abstentions.

Twelve CARICOM countries voted in favour of the resolution. 

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