PEOPLE’S National Party (PNP) President Mark Golding has warned Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness that a continued delay in naming the date for the next general election could see him forced into a corner by the constitution.

“This moment is your moment, this moment is our moment,” Golding told Comrades at a party rally in Musgrave Square, Brown’s Town, St Ann, on Thursday.

“Andrew can run but him cyaan hide, election must call because if him don’t call it the constitution will call it and we going to vote dem out because the people want better. Time come for a better life,” declared Golding as he wrapped up a 25-minute presentation.

“Comrades and friends, I ask you not just to vote for the PNP, but to vote for yourselves and your families and your future. I’m asking you to commit yourselves to building a better Jamaica, working and walking hand-in-hand with the People’s National Party.

“I think that time has come for us to vote for hope, time come for us to vote for fairness, time come for us to vote for leadership that puts the people of this country first and not your pocket first,” added Golding at the meeting where the PNP’s four standard bearers for St Ann were presented to a large group of Comrades.

With Jamaica not having a fixed date for general election it is the prerogative of the prime minister to determine when Jamaicans are called to vote.

But Section 64 of the constitution makes it clear that “Parliament, unless sooner dissolved, shall continue for five years from the date of its first sitting after any dissolution and shall then stand dissolved. At any time when Jamaica is at war, Parliament may, from time to time, extend the period of five years… for not more than 12 months at a time.”

Jamaicans last went to the polls in a general election on September 3, 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. After the polls closed, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) emerged with 49 of the 63 seats with the PNP taking the remaining 14.

The first sitting of the House was on September 15, 2020, meaning that the current Parliament will automatically dissolve on September 15 this year.

Under Section 65 of the constitution, “A general election of members of the House of Representatives shall be held at such time within three months after every dissolution of Parliament, as the governor general, acting in accordance with the advice of the prime minister, shall appoint by proclamation published in the Gazette”.

In April, Minister of Legal and Constitutional Affairs Marlene Malahoo Forte stirred controversy when she dismissed talk that Jamaica’s next general election is constitutionally due by September.

“That is not constitutionally correct,” she said while addressing a meeting of the joint select committee on the Constitution (Amendment) (Republic) Act, 2024.

Malahoo Forte pointed to the provisions of the constitution as she sought to lay to rest often repeated claims the Jamaicans would have to go to the polls no later than September.

Her comments were criticised by the PNP with the party’s General Secretary Dr Dayton Campbell describing them as “gratuitous”.

At that time Campbell said Malahoo Forte’s comments appeared designed to inject uncertainty and confusion when the Jamaican people were experiencing immense hardship.

“It reeks of desperation and appears to test the patience of a people who are already demanding meaningful change. The Jamaican people expect to go to the polls by September to elect a new Government. That expectation is not merely political, it is constitutional. It must not be frustrated,” said Campbell.

At the St Ann PNP meeting on Thursday, Campbell questioned why the prime minister is waiting until the last minute to call the election.

“Dem nah go use nuh ribbon cutting and nuh tricks fi tek weh dis yah one yah. And I said to some Comrades the other day, all wha a gwaan, an you hear dem a talk bout how dem dis, and how dem dat, when him (Holness) look inna St Mary, him look a Portland, him look a St Thomas, him come a town, him nuh see nowhere him can win dis yah election.

“Who you know could win an election and don’t call it? The reason why the prime minister has not named the date is because him know that him can’t win and I’m telling you tonight from Musgrave Square that it’s not going to be 32 [seats], or 33 or 34 or 35 or 36 or 37 or 38. We a go gi dem a beating,” declared Campbell.