— Click the play button to listen to this article —
By LINCOLN DEPRADINE
The leader of Jamaica’s parliamentary opposition, Mark Golding, believes that Andrew Holness should resign as the country’s prime minister.
Allegations of “illicit enrichment” levelled at Holness have put him “under a cloud” and “disqualifies him from being prime minister”, Golding, head of the People’s National Party (PNP), told a meeting at the Jamaican Canadian Association (JCA) centre in North York.
“If you have a problem and you can’t resolve it as a leader, you have to step back; somebody else has to take over.”
Holness, leader of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and prime minister since March 2016, has been under investigation by the country’s Integrity Commission (IC) after concerns were raised about his assets being disproportionate to his lawful earnings.
The investigation was highlighted in a 2023 report of the IC. While no charges have been laid against the prime minister – due to insufficient evidence – there remain unresolved questions about his finances, especially relating to the accusation of illicit enrichment.
Golding, in a wide-ranging address at the JCA townhall, explained that illicit enrichment is a “corruption offense under Jamaican law”.
“If the people have a perception that their leaders are really not about building the country, and helping them to move forward in life, but have their own agenda – which is a personal agenda of enriching themselves and their friends – the country can’t go nowhere,” said Golding, an attorney and former minister of Justice.
The meeting, organized by “Friends of Jamaica Committee Canada”, was part of a series of engagements undertaken in Toronto by Golding, who said that the PNP sees “the need to increase our engagement with our Jamaican family outside of Jamaica”.
He fielded questions from audience members – many clad in PNP T-shirts – on issues such as education and the Jamaica school system; Jamaicans visiting Canada on the seasonal farm workers’ program; the possibility of overseas voting; and on the PNP, which Golding has been leading since his election as party president in November 2020.
The PNP, he said, has amended its constitution “to recognize Jamaicans outside of Jamaica as a region”.
With the change, any Jamaican – including someone living overseas – can be a party member with voting rights, including the right to choose the leader of the PNP, Golding said.
The PNP is interested in “making full use and getting the full benefit of what the Jamaican family around the world can do for the development of Jamaica,” he said. “After all, our economy is very, very dependent on the Diaspora.”
Golding expressed the PNP’s willingness to collaborate with the JLP to expand the Lower House of Parliament to include “Diaspora representation on the Senate”, which allows for meetings by audio-visual attendance.
“It can be done but it’s going to require the JLP and the PNP agreeing to do it, because it can’t happen otherwise,” said Golding.
Golding said public opinion polls indicate that the PNP has a nine per cent lead over the JLP ahead of general elections, which are scheduled to be held by next September.
Governance is “one of the real issues that is going to be confronting the electorate” when the population votes, said Golding.
“The country needs leaders who earn the trust and confidence of the people who put them there,” he said.
“We think the general election should be called now because of what’s going on in the country and the corruption that is rampant in Jamaica. I believe the Jamaican people will make the right decision because, as them say, time come.”
Golding, commenting on the education system, pointed to a need for reform, including utilizing the Jamaican language as a tool for teaching at schools.
“Teachers need to use the Jamaican language to make our children fluent in English. English is not the first language of the children,” said Golding.
“The Jamaican language has its own grammar; it has some of its own vocabulary. If you grow up in a household and in a community where you’re speaking Jamaican, you are fluid in Jamaican and you go into a school system, which assumes that you’re fluent in English, and there is no recognition or adjustment to ensure that you learn English to be comfortable in it, so that you can learn other subjects, you’re at a huge disadvantage.”
