‘We are not partisan’ - PMI in damage-control mode after politically biased tweet comes from account

The leadership of the Peace Management Initiative is confident that the organisation will not lose credibility despite the release of a politically biased tweet from its social media account.

"Carnival is so much more uptown and better when the JLP is in power. Even extra security being provided today to keep away stragglers," the tweet said.

It was later deleted. The PMI said it was posted in error.

"I don't think it has damaged the reputation of PMI. The PMI has done a lot of work over the last 15 years in working on bridging gaps in communities and, in many instances, between groups in conflict, and we have done a very good job at that," said CEO of the PMI, Damian Hutchinson.

The PMI is a non-partisan organisation that works in war-torn communities to bring peace to those areas. However, following the release of the tweet yesterday, several social media users questioned whether the organisation could maintain its position as a neutral player.

Hutchinson seem to think so.

A MISTAKE

"We have never been criticised as being partisan and will continue to do so. It's just a mistake that caused the organisation some embarrassment, but it has noting to do with the internal mandate or objective of the organisation," he said.

VOLUNTEER'S BLUNDER

The PMI blamed a volunteer for the release of the tweet. Hutchinson said that since he was made aware of the tweet, the person was spoken to and released. He said that the person intended to send the tweet from their personal account; however, it was mistakenly sent from the official page of his organisation.

"It is a innocent mistake. The privileges of that volunteer has been taken away and we are seeking to hire a full-time social media professional to look after those services for us," he said.

Horace Levy, deputy chairman of the PMI, said he is saddened that the incident happened, but he is very confident that this tweet does not reflect the views and position of the PMI.

"It is something we regret happening. Obviously, individuals are able to access social media and make statements without we being able to control them. I regret that this individual did this, because it makes it seem as though PMI has taken a political position and we been neutral. We go into communities that is affiliated with both parties and we treat the members with fairness and equally. We are not into party polities," he said.