Mon | Sep 29, 2025

... calls for unity in the PNP

Published:Monday | April 4, 2022 | 12:07 AMBryan Miller/Gleaner Writer
Mark Golding (second left), leader of the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP), walks the streets and meets residents of Great River in Hanover, while accompanied by PNP caretaker for the Hopewell Division, Jeffrey Brown (fourth left); Councillor for
Bryan Miller
Mark Golding (second left), leader of the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP), walks the streets and meets residents of Great River in Hanover, while accompanied by PNP caretaker for the Hopewell Division, Jeffrey Brown (fourth left); Councillor for the Sandy Bay Division and Deputy Mayor of Lucea, Andria Dehaney-Grant (third left); and PNP Eastern Hanover Constituency Caretaker, Wynter McIntosh (right, front), on Friday.

WESTERN BUREAU:

Leader of the People’s National Party (PNP), Mark Golding, is calling for more unity within the party to ensure that it replaces the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) at the next set of elections.

Addressing a public meeting in Orange Bay, Hanover, following a tour of the parish on Friday, Golding expressed satisfaction at how the tour went, noting that the show of unity during the tour was very refreshing and evidence that the party is ready to once again represent the people of the parish.

While the two sitting members of parliament in the parish are from the ruling JLP, the PNP has four of seven seats in the Hanover Municipal Corporation.

Golding’s arguments came against the background of common knowledge within the parish that former member of parliament for Hanover Western, Ian Hayles, who remains the constituency caretaker, and councillor for the Cauldwell division in the constituency, Mayor of Lucea Sheridan Samuels, have yet to settle disagreements between them.

After making a wide-ranging presentation, which included a repeat call for the local government elections to be held this year, Golding called for more unity in the parish among the political aspirants, with a view to presenting themselves as the right choice for the people.

When Golding was asked at the beginning of the tour if the PNP has all its Hanover local government candidates in place, he responded: “We have candidates in every division in Hanover, and we are always reviewing the situation to fine-tune and make sure we have the right mix, so that is a work in progress.”

“So comrades and friends, supporters, it has been a really wonderful day here in Hanover. I will return, because I love the vibes and I love to see that the PNP is strong in this powerful togetherness that I feel here in Hanover, and I say to all of our leaders in Hanover, whatever has happened here before, do not dwell on that, do not study that, put that aside, forward we are going, forward together,” he stated, to applause from the many party supporters who were out in the drizzling rain to see and hear him.

Golding emphasised that the people are what the PNP is about, adding a charge to the political aspirants in the parish, “The people want us (the PNP) to be strong and we are strong when we are together, so we will work together to deliver for the people, that is what we are about, that is what the people want from us and that is our responsibility to them,” he stated.

A UNITED FORCE

He called on the PNP political leaders in the parish to “make bygones be bygones and move forward as a united force to deliver the wishes of the people of the parish”.

When The Gleaner spoke to Hayles, he agreed that the party is bigger than all candidates and all need to fall in line.

“The PNP is a big tent. There are differing views, we have to ensure that Mark Golding wins the next election, and the PNP of Hanover is ready to ensure that Mark Golding wins,” he stated.

Samuels, on the other hand, had “no comment”.

It remains to be seen if the differences between the two will be amicably settled.

bryan.miller@gleanerjm.com