MANDEVILLE, Manchester — Two members of the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) have defended the party’s President Mark Golding, who has found himself in the eye of a storm over his links to the United Kingdom.

With Golding admitting that he holds UK citizenship, there have been calls, mainly on social media, for him to renounce or resign.

But on Sunday Nekeisha Burchell, the PNP’s spokeswoman on information and public communication; and Patricia Duncan-Sutherland, who speaks on social transformation and social protection, fired back at members of the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) for questioning Golding’s citizenship.

Burchell took particular aim at Cabinet members Daryl Vaz and Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn during her address at the PNP’s Mandeville Divisional Conference at deCarteret College in Manchester.

“Him [Vaz] decide say him going to take on the party leader. He went on
Twitter (X) and decided to say that Mark Golding isn’t qualified to represent Jamaica, because him father got a British passport for him when he was a child…You all know that even if you have a British passport you can still be a political representative in Jamaica…you wouldn’t be going against the constitution,” said Burchell.

“You mean nobody couldn’t seh ‘shhh, lef that one deh, it a go mek we look bad’. Everybody just a walk up and down a talk the same foolishness,” added Burchell as she repeated her claim that online posts by members of the Andrew Holness-led Cabinet are concerning.

“Everybody a walk up and down like mad ants and a chat foolishness. She [Cuthbert-Flynn] is saying how Mark Golding, because fi him skin lighter than fi her, she has more claims to Jamaica…You mean seh Mark Golding weh born a Jamaica, don’t have any right to Jamaica, because [she] say suh,” said Burchell.

Burchell, who is tipped to represent the party in St James Southern in the next general election, pointed to previous dual citizenship cases involving former parliamentarians and members of the JLP, including Vaz.

“[He] should know that Mark Golding was never called or hauled before the court, because them put themselves up fi run inna Parliament and know seh dem a dual citizen from a country weh nuh qualify fi serve inna Jamaica,” she said.

“A never him alone. A whole heap of Labourites refused to give up dem dual citizenship. Dem waan sit down inna Parliament and serve two masters…Because Mark Golding qualify and because Mark Golding has a clean hand dem a try find some mud fi throw, but none nah stick. The man clean like Jesus police record, dem cyaan find nothing,” added Burchell who made no reference to members of the PNP who were also disqualified from Parliament for holding dual citizenship.

But the criticisms from the PNP have not quieted Vaz who, on radio yesterday, alleged that Golding did not acquire a Jamaican passport until 2011 at the age of 46.

“In 2011 his party became Government and therefore the prime minister at the time, Portia Simpson Miller, decided to appoint him as a minister…So as a minister he would need to apply for a diplomatic passport to travel on official business on behalf of the Government.

“But in order to do so you can’t go straight to a diplomatic passport, you have to go to a regular passport,” said Vaz on the Nationwide News Network programme Cliff Hughes on Line.

According to Vaz
— who had to give up his United States citizenship after the courts agreed with the PNP that he could not sit in Parliament as a dual citizen
— Golding needs to say if he would have applied for a Jamaican passport if he was not appointed to a Cabinet post.

“This is not a tit-for-tat. My case was completely different. I did what I had to do and had I been told that there was a possibility that I could be challenged, based on the fact that my mother was an American citizen, I would have renounced before I ran, but I was told by many, many lawyers no need to.

“And the decision against me
— in relation to the judge’s ruling that I, as a result of renewing my US passport as an adult was an act of allegiance
— is still out there in many jurisdictions on whether that was a right decision,” added Vaz who is the Member of Parliament for Portland Western.

He charged that Golding is compromised by holding dual citizenship and should have declared his position long before the discussions on constitutional reform started.

“I don’t see it at this point as a legal issue, it is more of a moral issue…and it is now probably the biggest political issue that he has faced since taking over the leadership of the PNP,” declared Vaz as he charged that even PNP supporters must be stunned by the admission of the Opposition leader that he holds dual citizenship.

In the meantime, Duncan-Sutherland, who is slated to represent the PNP in St Andrew Eastern in the next general election, said the JLP should remember Jamaica’s motto.

“Our national motto is out of many one people. In case you never understand what it means, it means seh all a we mix up and all a we are Jamaicans. Black, Indian, Chinese, white, all a we a Jamaican,” said Duncan-Sutherland.

“As leaders we do not say things to divide our people. We do not criticise any Jamaican because of the colour of their skin, [their gender], or because of how much money dem earn. We don’t do that,” added Duncan-Sutherland.