Golding the best person to lead, says McDonald

Influential People’s National Party (PNP) member based in St Ann South East, Denzil McDonald, has hailed Mark Golding’s elevation to the post of president and leader of the party, saying he is the best person to be at the helm at this time.

Golding, member of parliament (MP) for St Andrew South, was elected PNP president on Saturday, polling 1,740 votes to beat his opponent Lisa Hanna’s (MP, South East St Ann) 1,444 votes, and is to replace Dr Peter Phillips, who has led the party since 2017.

“I believe that Mark Golding is the best person at this time to lead the PNP,” McDonald told The Gleaner on Sunday.

“He’s a brilliant mind, he’s a friendly person. I think he will foster relationships with everybody, create that kind of nexus that the party needs at this time. I think he’s the best person.”

‘PNP is in Good Hands Now’

Maintaining that Golding’s integrity was beyond question, McDonald continued, “When I look into the entire parliamentary group, of all of them, even before we lost the (September 2020) election, Mark Golding was always one of those who people were looking at that could really take over the leadership of the party. The PNP is in good hands now, that’s what I personally believe.”

McDonald also held the view that “within a year” Golding will be able to challenge Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) leader Andrew Holness in terms of popularity because “he’s just a natural roots”.

“What you see is what you get. His credibility, his integrity cannot be questioned. I’ve never heard anybody say anything negative about him,” he pointed out.

McDonald’s comments come after he had published an open letter, addressed to Hanna, alleging several breaches by the MP and calling for an explanation for her “dismal performance as MP”.

McDonald is one of several PNP members in St Ann who have, over the years, criticised Hanna for her running of the affairs in St Ann South East, and publicly backed Golding to become party president.

Fierce Hanna detractor, Councillor Lydia Richards of the Bensonton division, turned up to vote at the Brown’s Town Community College on Saturday wearing a T-shirt marked ‘Go With Golding’, in support of the new president.

She, too, spoke with The Gleaner after the election results were known.

Unifying the Party

“Golding will unify the party, so I am hoping now that he will settle down to business and take the party back to its former glory; so we all need to sit down and have a talk as to how we’re going to be doing this,” Richards said.

“I have no doubt that he will listen to the people so that we all can decide and come up with the right solution for the party.”

Richards said she was not influential in garnering support for Golding from within South East.

“I had nothing to do with it. I just supported Golding and allowed the constituents to decide for themselves,” she pointed out.

Richards believes the onus is on Hanna to prevent further deterioration of the relationship with her constituents after Saturday’s loss, as she is the leader of the team.

“She is the leader of the constituency, so she will have to go and get the people to rally around her. That’s what she needs to do,” she said.

Meanwhile, Hanna’s supporters accepted the defeat in good faith.

Councillor for the Beecher Town division, Ian Bell, Hanna’s sole supporter of four councillors in the division, is insisting that Hanna got support from the vast majority of delegates from St Ann South East.

“We had 69 delegates and we believe it’s just about two persons from SE (South East) who voted otherwise. I am confident that the majority of South East supported their member of parliament,” Bell told The Gleaner.

“We just have to accept the wishes of the delegates, accept the results of the poll. We need to wheel and come again, reunite, meet with the leader, sit down and plan the way forward for the People’s National Party, as the party is bigger than all of us.”

Another delegate from the Beecher Town division, Marvin Matthews, believes that the delegates made the wrong choice by not voting for Hanna but nevertheless, pledged to work with the new leader.

“She didn’t win, but I think the delegates made the wrong choice; but at the end of the day, we are a part of the People’s National Party and we stand by what decision the delegates have made,” Matthews said.

“We will support him because he is now the president of the People’s National Party. We hope that Comrade Mark Golding can move the process of the People’s National Party forward, because at the end of the day, we are one PNP.”

editorial@gleanerjm.com