KINGSTON, Jamaica — Government Senator Abka Fitz-Henley has criticised People’s National Party (PNP) President Mark Golding’s support for democratic socialism, warning that Jamaica cannot afford a return to what he described as the economic hardships of the 1970s.

Fitz-Henley, who chairs the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) Communication Taskforce, was responding to comments made by Golding at a PNP meeting in the Greendale Division of St Catherine.

Golding was quoted in the media as saying that the PNP under his leadership has embraced democratic socialism, the political philosophy championed by former Prime Minister Michael Manley’s administration in the 1970s. Golding argued that the ideology has seen renewed global interest, including in the United States.

However, Fitz-Henley said Jamaicans should remember the economic challenges of that period, arguing that the policies associated with the democratic socialist era led to economic decline, capital flight, shortages, currency depreciation, and rising living costs.

“Those of us who recall our history should remind the current generation that during the 1970s, the PNP’s embrace of this democratic socialist experiment which Mark Golding alluded to led to severe economic decline, massive capital flight, severe food shortages, a major plunge in the Jamaican dollar and a massive increase in the cost of living by hundreds of per cent,” Fitz-Henley said.

He further argued that unemployment rose during the period while lack of foreign exchange and materials shuttered factories.

“The policies created severe energy blackouts and caused supermarket shelves to be empty, leading to public rationing and rising tensions on the streets of Jamaica over food. Golding and the PNP should be told in no uncertain manner that Jamaica will not go back to a political philosophy which demolished the lives of thousands of Jamaicans and spawned the crisis, elements of which I just alluded to,” Fitz-Henley said.

The senator also claimed that the policies of the 1970s contributed to a brain drain and increased crime and violence, arguing that Golding’s support for the ideology raises questions about the PNP’s ability to manage the economy.

“That Mark Golding, a political leader in 2026, would seek to publicly espouse such a philosophy that caused so many Jamaicans pain and created lasting damage to their lives and our economy tells us all we need to know. It tells us that Golding and the PNP cannot be trusted to manage Jamaica’s economy,” he said.

He credited the JLP administration with maintaining economic stability despite major external challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic, international conflicts and recent hurricanes.

Fitz-Henley said Jamaica’s focus should remain on economic growth and improving living standards rather than returning to democratic socialism.

“Our policies also show particular sensitivity to not creating pain for the masses but cultivating a set of circumstances where the environment is created for the poor and dispossessed to prosper and bolster their standard of living,” he said.