The People's National Party (PNP) said Smith's statement "can only damage Jamaica's international reputation for respecting the human rights of all our citizens".

Smith, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) member of parliament (MP) for South West St Ann, charged in Parliament last week that homo-sexuals were violent and that the police force was overrun with gays. Smith has since apologised to the police.

May incite violence

However, subsequent to his apology, Smith called on the director of public prosecutions to investigate J-FLAG with a view to having the group charged for conspiracy to corrupt public morals.

Yesterday, the PNP said it was calling on political leaders to refrain from excesses of language or extreme positions that may incite violence or other discriminatory conduct against any minority group.

"This is particularly important in relation to the homosexual community, given the deep-seated cultural aversion to homosexuality that prevails in Jamaica," the PNP said in a statement, issued in the name of Central Kingston MP Ronald Thwaites.

Gratuitous grandstanding

"The physical safety and broader human rights of these citizens should not be undermined by gratuitous political grandstanding on this issue," the PNP added.

Meanwhile, the PNP has said it is "committed to the principle of freedom of association that is enshrined in Jamaica's Constitution", and called on the Government to state publicly that it rejects Smith's series of pronouncements.

After Smith's statements in Parliament, the JLP had distanced itself from his views.