Golding dual citizenship concerns a sign of JLP desperation - PNP

By Kimone Witter    

 

People's National Party President Mark Golding says it is out of desperation that the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has resorted to using his dual citizenship to attack him.

 

Mr. Golding says the issue, which he has labelled a distraction, is threatening to overshadow the PNP's successes in the local government election, held in February.

 

But addressing supporters at the Gayle division's annual conference in St. Mary on Sunday, the PNP president said the party will not be daunted as, according to him, the country lacks leadership. 

 

"I pledge to you tonight, Comrades, that when I become prime minister of this country, I will not sell you out. I will ensure that the resources of the people are used exclusively for the people, and I will focus on fixing the real issues confronting Jamaica so we can have a brighter future and move from the malaise and a lack of hope where we are now to a brighter place because we are a great people, but we are being held by a government that majors in public relations and spin but is not delivering the fundamental changes that have to happen for our country to move forward," he declared. 

 

 

Meanwhile, People's National Party General Secretary Dr. Dayton Campbell has accused the government of inciting selective outrage on the matter of Opposition Leader Mark Golding's citizenship status.

 

He claims Prime Minister Andrew Holness has devised a ploy to minimise the political gains made by the PNP. 

 

"The prime minister, in 2011, said that he believed that dual citizens supposed to be inna the Parliament. When this matter come up and the JLP realise seh dem under pressure, dem seh we aguh start seh Mark a British. Prime minister, the people want to know if the president of the Senate, Tom Tavares-Finson, is a dual citizen. They said I should ask if Matthew Samuda, Minister of Government, is a British citizen; if Babsy Grange is a Canadian citizen, because he knows that there are dual citizens in the Parliament on his side, so now he's saying that dual citizens can inna di Parliament, but not the person who a try tek fi mi work as prime minister," Dr. Campbell argued. 

 

He chided Mr. Holness for having a discriminatory position, adding that the push against Mr. Golding is due to fear of losing to the opposition leader when the next general election is called. 

 

Dr. Campbell was speaking during the Tollgate division's annual conference in Clarendon on Sunday.