Election leadership debate turns heated as Holness and Golding trade accusations

“Hypocrite,” “liar,” and “flip-flopper” were some of the insults hurled during the leadership debate between Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness and Opposition Leader Mark Golding, as the two men clashed on issues ranging from corruption and the economy to income tax breaks for Jamaicans.

The first exchange occurred when they were asked to indicate how they intend to deal with corruption and hold political representatives accountable.

Holness, who was the first to respond, declared himself the “politician who can stand with the greatest moral authority to treat with any matter that is considered corrupt, as I have done in the past.”

“I am the politician about which Jamaica knows the most. Every aspect of my personal life [and] personal financial details is in the public domain,” said Holness, the leader of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).

“I want to give this assurance to the Jamaican people that you know me, you know about me, you can trust me, and you know that I stand against corruption,” he continued.

But Golding, in his response, pushed back against this assertion, charging that Holness was “operating under a deep cloud” because of his uncertified statutory declarations dating back to 2021.

This, he said, is “something that Jamaica cannot go forward with.”

Golding, the president of the opposition People’s National Party (PNP), also charged that the “volume of scandals” under the current JLP-led administration is unprecedented.

“The number of ministers who have had to be removed from frontline duties, many of them parked in the naughty corner at OPM [Office of the Prime Minister] rather than being sacked, is a disgrace to the country,” he said.

He further pointed to the findings of a scathing investigation report published by the Integrity Commission, Jamaica’s main anti-corruption body.

The gloves came off again when Holness asked the PNP president whether he has assets in overseas companies that have not been disclosed, and whether he could be believed.

Golding, in his response, said he has disclosed all his assets, “and that’s why my Integrity Commission declarations are certified.”

“Your allegations are scurrilous and false,” the PNP president said.

Golding again denied assertions that Dehring, Bunting & Golding (DB&G)—the firm he co-founded and which was later sold to Scotiabank—benefited from any "sweetheart" arrangements during the collapse of the Jamaican financial sector in the 1990s, before firing a salvo at the prime minister.

He insisted that “we have nothing to hide when it comes to DB&G,” and questioned why the Holness administration—having spent $200 million on a commission of enquiry into the collapse of the financial sector—had not published the findings.

“Is it because you and your wife bought a house from somebody who had been FINSAC-ed?” Golding questioned, using the term commonly applied to persons who were adversely impacted by the collapse of the financial sector.

“You are a hypocrite, Andrew Holness, to be accusing me of anything in relation to FINSAC when you have been a direct beneficiary of the losses of somebody who… lost their home because of FINSAC,” he charged.

Holness denied purchasing a FINSAC house and bristled at the accusation.

“I did not purchase a FINSAC house. I bought a house on the open market, and again you come with weaponised lies. Your lies will not work.”

- Livern Barrett

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