Brown Burke defends Golding in dual citizenship row
—Says attacks are a ploy to distract from important national issues
KINGSTON, Jamaica— “A patriotic Jamaican, born and bred”.
That’s how Chairman of the People’s National Party (PNP), Dr Angela Brown Burke, has described Opposition Leader and PNP President Mark Golding, as she came to his defence in the Parliament recently.
Golding has faced withering criticism from members of the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) over his dual Jamaican and British citizenship, with Prime Minister Andrew Holness declaring that even if he were to renounce his British citizenship now the situation would be incurable.
When he announced his own British citizenship on Thursday while stating that he had begun the process of renunciation, Government Minister Matthew Samuda, who was born in London, England, urged Golding to follow suit.
READ: Senator Samuda says he’s renouncing British citizenship
Members of the JLP have argued that Golding’s perceived dual loyalties disqualify him from being leader of the PNP and a future prime minister.
However, in her contribution to the Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, Brown-Burke pointed out that Golding has broken no law. She asserted that the attacks on Golding were a ploy by the JLP to distract from important national issues.
“Now more than ever, we need to safeguard the truth and prevent manipulation of the public and the deliberate use of disinformation. This is a threat to all of us, as we serve with our own conscience as our guide,” Brown Burke said.
“When any member of the government repeats a story that is aimed at causing confusion and distorting the truth, we should all be worried,” she added.
The Member of Parliament for St Andrew South Western had earlier dismissed what she said were misleading claims being made about her 96-year-old father on the internet.
Regarding the Golding matter, she said “recently, many have been left to ponder as misinformation deflected from other important national issues. We all know that Mark Golding, like many others in this Parliament is both, a Jamaican and a Commonwealth/British citizen, as is permitted by the current constitution”.
“To continue to carry that story as if he has done something wrong is dishonest. To continue to push this story for cheap political gain is despicable. Time come for parliamentarians to live up to being honorable members of this House,” Brown Burke stated.
She remarked that “the contribution of a patriotic Jamaican, born and bred like a Mark Golding, should never be diminished because of who his father was, especially when that father (the late Sir John Golding) has left an impressive legacy of service to Jamaicans”.
“Nor should he be vilified by unscrupulous individuals who’re seeking to score cheap political points by engaging in pedestrian politics for self-serving aggrandizement and neophyte political distractions”.
Brown Burke said “such actions serve no useful purpose other than to call into question the reputation of those who spew this diatribe”.
She also dismissed posts on social media which claim that Golding’s father was a descendant of slave owners.
“For the record of the curious, Mr Mark Jefferson Golding’s father Dr. Sir John Golding – is not related to any slave owner. Fullstop! Go do your homework and remember that researching David Cohen is like trying to find John Brown,” Brown Burke said.
She urged her fellow parliamentarians to be responsible guardians of the roles they have been elected to play.
“We cannot engage in wanton disregard for decency in pursuit of scoring political points. Jamaica is too dangerous for recklessness and oral diarrhea,” she said.
