Golding’s disappointment
Opposition leader declares PNP ‘alive and well’ despite defeat
Published:Thursday | September 4, 2025 | 3:30 AMKimone Francis/Senior Staff Reporter
Confronted with a clear rejection by the Jamaican voters, People’s National Party (PNP) President Mark Golding conceded the general election to the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) in what he described as a “difficult night”.
Golding, at the PNP’s Old Hope Road headquarters late Wednesday, told wary Comrades who remained behind that it was his duty to acknowledge the loss and congratulate the JLP on its 34-29 victory.
“Jamaica’s democracy is important and we must cherish it. Sometimes it brings bitter disappointments. Sometimes those disappointments are laced with a tinge of a sense that not all is fair and just, but it is very, very important that we put democracy ahead of all of those feelings. And I accept the result of these elections and although, obviously, I’m very disappointed in the outcome, I think it is only correct to expressly acknowledge the success that our opponents have managed to [achieve] today,” Golding said.
The Opposition party rallied from a 14-49 defeat in the 2020 general election to more than double its seat count in Parliament, but fell short in a largely incident-free poll marred by low voter turnout.
Wednesday’s poll pulled just 38 per cent of the Jamaican electorate, a percentage-point increase over the COVID-marred 2020 general election.
Golding said the contest was a “closely fought” one, calling it a “wonderful demonstration of the maturity of Jamaica’s political process”.
“I want to thank the people of Jamaica for having received us so well, and having given us hundreds of thousands of votes and given us 29 seats. We don’t take that for granted. We thank you for your time today,” said Golding.
Still, he said voting was sometimes painfully slow, noting that it is an issue that more will have to be said about “because it’s an undemocratic situation when people, elderly and other people, have to be in the hot sun lining up to vote, for sometimes hours. And it should not be that way. We should do better and we have to do better”.
In the same breath, he said the PNP put forward a platform that was progressive and was one that offered a radical reform to the land tenure issues that, he said, have plagued Jamaica for centuries.
“A radical platform that would have enhanced the standard of living and quality of life of those working families that are struggling to survive now, by giving them significantly lower tax burdens on their income ….,” he said.
“Progressive in a social justice sense as well around issues such as beach reform, contract work and other things which really need to be addressed, because there are injustices in our society which cannot be tolerated, and should be modified and rejected in their current form,” he added.
He declared the PNP “alive and well as a powerful political organisation” that has embraced modernity in its methods and has, over the last few years, come a long way towards being a competitive political force in Jamaica.