I MUST commend the leadership and courage of the members of parliament (MPs), in the current debate on the retention of capital punishment in Jamaica, who have gone on record supporting the abolition of capital punishment in Jamaica.

If we stop and think a little, it would be patently obvious that the ability of the State to capture and convict murderers is a far greater deterrent to killings than any sentence of death. The severity of any proposed punishment is irrelevant if the perpetrators have very little chance of being caught.

On the other hand, we have many MPs supporting the death penalty, saying they think that it will help to reduce murder and some saying that this is in keeping with the wishes of the majority of their constituents. This suggests that some of our leaders look to see where the crowd is headed and then jump in front of it rather than steering it in the right direction.

If this were not so, our legislators should be prepared to support the populace if they desired an additional public holiday for each month of the year. Ask most Jamaicans about getting an extra holiday or working for ten hours while being paid for forty. I am willing to bet that the majority of Jamaicans wished life was like that. Would most of our MPs then advocate such a state of affairs?

Provide leadership

Dare we hope our members of parliament will think carefully, have a little courage and provide leadership when the time to vote on capital punishment does come? Ladies and gentlemen, let us think about the real causes of murder and the best ways of efficiently tackling this problem.

I am, etc.,

RADCLIFF KNIBBS

rok1962@flowja.com.