Former Prime Minister Bruce Golding says the allegations of irregularities in the September 3, 2025 General Election made by the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) should not be taken lightly, and urged the party to gather detailed evidence for a thorough investigation by the Electoral Commission of Jamaica before determining that the matter be elevated to an independent inquiry, as suggested by the PNP.

Golding made the recommendation in a column on the PNP’s post-election complaints published in today’s Jamaica Observer.

Last Thursday, at a post-election news conference, PNP President Mark Golding called for an independent enquiry into the operations of the Electoral Office of Jamaica, following what he said were reports of irregularities during the general election which his party lost 28-35 to the ruling Jamaica Labour Party.

The PNP president expressed concerns that the general voting process at polling stations contributed to voter frustration and suppression. At the same time, he said no formal report has been made to any State organ as there is no agency mandated to deal with issues such as voter suppression.

However, he said the PNP would be “going into the field to do a survey” to get “more tangible information rather than the indirect reports” it had been receiving through social media and its campaign structures.

“At that point we can decide where we go from there,” he said.

However, in his column, Bruce Golding, who served as Jamaica’s eighth prime minister from September 2007 to October 2011 and was involved in politics for more than 50 years, said from his recollection “this is the first time in the last 35 years that allegations have been made of significant irregularities in a general election”.

Added the former prime minister and Jamaica Labour Party leader: “The 2016 General Election that [was] won by a majority of merely one seat and a plurality of only 3,237 votes resulted in a change of Government and a seamless transfer of power without any claim of irregularities.”

He said that Jamaica has earned plaudits for the management of its electoral system and the conduct of elections, adding that after having led several electoral observer missions for the Commonwealth and the Organization of American States in Africa, Asia, the Pacific and the Caribbean, he was proud of the admiration Jamaica enjoys in many countries for the quality of the election apparatus that many have sought to copy.

“This is a reputation that we must jealously protect,” the former chief executive said.

“Against this backdrop, the recent claim by the People’s National Party of irregularities in the September 3 General Election and its call for an independent enquiry must not be taken lightly. The party has two representatives on the Electoral Commission of Jamaica and perhaps that is where the investigation should begin before elevating it to an ‘independent inquiry’.

“That investigation must be informed by specific evidence: the particular polling stations at which persons in line at 5:00 pm were not allowed to vote, specific instances of vote-buying, all of which should be supported by written statements.” he said.

Read the full column on Page 13.