OPPOSITION Leader and People’s National Party (PNP) President Mark Golding is urging Jamaicans to reflect on the lessons of yesterday and to step boldly into tomorrow with purpose and determination.

In his New Year’s Message Golding argued that 2025 is “brimming with promise and [the] opportunity to chart a better course for ourselves, our families, and our beloved Jamaica”.

Golding added that the dawn of a new year is a call to embrace fresh beginnings, reflect on the lessons of yesterday, and to step boldly into tomorrow with purpose and determination.

“As we step into 2025, we do so with hope in our hearts, even as we honestly and courageously acknowledge the challenges we face as a nation,” said Golding.

He charged that the past year has been one of mixed fortunes for Jamaica and used as an example the devastating Hurricane Beryl in July, which wreaked havoc in several parishes and caused major disruption to many lives, damaging homes, schools, farms, and infrastructure, while setting back the economy.

“We endured the ongoing man-made disaster of high levels of violent crime, robbing us of loved ones, putting communities in fear, stifling opportunities and casting a long shadow over the progress of our people. Every life lost to violence is one too many, and every family torn apart by crime is another blot on our record as a nation,” said Golding.

The opposition leader pointed out that this year will be one of intense political activity, as the country moves towards general elections and urged the nation’s leaders to set an example, by word and deed, that there is no place for violence and intimidation in our political affairs.

“Our leaders must ensure that there is no repetition of the offensive and divisive rhetoric which sometimes soiled our national discourse in 2024 — it offends the spirit of ‘One Love’ and violates the ideals of togetherness embraced in our nation’s motto, ‘Out of Many, One People’.

According to Golding, this year the PNP will continue to consult with, and engage the people, bringing forward its vision for a better Jamaica and championing the causes that matter deeply to Jamaicans.

He said the PNP will concentrate on, among other things, finding creative ways to cushion the crisis of the high cost of living from which the people are suffering; improving the systems of education and training children and youths; and taking stronger action against corruption while holding accountable those who violate the public trust by scraping public resources for private benefit

“For the remaining period, while we remain in Opposition, which by all accounts will not be long, we will continue to perform our national duty of vigilantly holding the Government to account and defending the Constitution from any machinations which violate the principles of good governance and erode the rights of our people,” said Golding.

“On the matter of constitutional reform, our position is consistent and clear. On the matter of our head of state and our final court, Jamaica must move to full decolonisation and the establishment of full sovereignty for our people. Our people must be guaranteed access to justice, which the current arrangement fundamentally denies.

“We will not support a piecemeal approach to delinking from the UK monarchy. We will not support a mechanism for appointing the nation’s president which would allow the ruling party to install someone who does not enjoy the trust and confidence of all,” added Golding.

He underscored that the PNP believes that mechanisms for more democratic, participatory, transparent, and accountable governance should be included in the reform measures, including the mechanism of impeachment which, he said, has long been a point of bipartisan agreement and continues to enjoy strong support among the Jamaican people.

“We would like to see mechanisms in place to enable our Jamaican Diaspora, who are so integral to our people’s welfare and our national fortunes, to participate more meaningfully in national development,” he said.