THE two major political parties are marking the end of the general election campaign with a flurry of activities, including meetings for peace in communities across the island.

The parties, which by law cannot hold any public meetings 24 hours before the polls open on Wednesday morning, are on the last lap of the campaigning which has turned bloody in several constituencies.

With supporters of both parties on the receiving end of violence, the governing People's National Party (PNP) said its meeting in Mandeville tomorrow will be one for peace.

"We are tired of the violence," said PNP General Secretary, Maxine Henry-Wilson. "It is pointless and it never achieves anything. People are just sick and tired of all of it. And, when I say people, I mean PNP and JLP people."

According to Mrs. Henry-Wilson, party leader and PNP President P. J. Patterson will be addressing the nation before the election and he will be asking the country to commit to a peaceful process.

"The Prime Minister continues his schedule although it has been scaled down. There are also tours, and small local public meetings. But the mass meeting scheduled for Mandeville is now being downsized to a local/regional meeting, and it will be a meeting of prayer for peace," she explained.

Deputy Leader of the JLP, Audley Shaw, said all of the party's effort will not be concentrated in the mass meeting scheduled for Sam Sharpe Square this evening. "I will be having 13 meetings between now and next Monday night, in small communities in my Area Council region," Mr. Shaw said yesterday. "I will be going into small communities in St. Ann to complete my round of campaigning. These are separate from the meetings in Negril and Montego Bay."

While he used the opportunity to highlight incidents of violence against JLP supporters, he also said the meetings will be meetings of peace. "We will be encouraging our supporters to walk away from violence and other acts of intimidation against them. We will also tell them not to intimidate anyone or bring violence to anyone and to allow all Jamaicans to go and vote for the party of their choice," he said.

The National Democratic Movement/New Jamaica Alliance (NDM/NJA) candidates are also on the ground in several communities in the Corporate Area and rural parishes.

NDM's General Secretary, Michael Williams, said NDM and NJA candidates were not involved in acts of violence against anyone. "You know the NDM from its very beginning has not been involved in violence. We are opposed to it because we know what it does to the fabric of the society. There is nothing to be gained from violence, except chaos and fear," he said on Friday.

Political Ombudsman Bishop Herro Blair said the parties had acted responsibly in pulling offensive contents from political advertisement which he was forced to censor.

In an interview Friday night, the Ombudsman said the political climate is already charged and some of the advertisements, he said, would add to an already tense situation.

"Both parties have pulled offensive sections of advertisements in the media. The PNP has removed sections of the advertisement about 'Tom drunk but Tom nuh fool' and that is now cleared. I still have issues with 'The West Kingston Story'," he said.

Bishop Blair, a minister of religion, said he is urging supporters of both parties to pray for peace and mean it when they pray, noting that the outbreak of violence did nothing but tarnish the country's image.

Meanwhile, sections of the private sector leadership of the country have written to Bishop Blair, urging a meeting of the major parties to discuss efforts to end the political violence gripping the country.

Bishop Blair is expected to make a decision this afternoon.

And all eyes will be focused on the electoral machinery of the Electoral Office of Jamaica (EoJ) for the October 16 Election Day.

Yesterday, information officer of the EoJ, Neville Graham, said all systems are ready. Mr. Graham also disclosed that the process will have a new feature.

"The voters list used by the officials inside the polling stations will carry the photograph of the elector. If there are any doubts, the electors' identification card will be matched against the photo on the list," he said.

According to him, this is the length to which the EoJ was going to make sure that there were no incidents of fraud.