JLP dismisses PNP’s call for electoral review as baseless
Published:Friday | September 12, 2025 | 12:13 AM
A week after its electoral defeat, the People’s National Party (PNP) has suggested an urgent independent review of Jamaica’s electoral process, charging that the polls were marred by various acts of voter suppression and glitches in the system.
But the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), which was elected to a third consecutive five-year term in office, has shot down the suggestion, accusing the PNP of seeking to cast doubt on the electoral process.
JLP campaign chairman Dr Christopher Tufton challenged the PNP to provide evidence of the voter suppression they complain about or “shut up”.
“To suggest that that may have impacted the final results of the election … is, as far as we are concerned, guilty by hearsay, and this is wrong. We reject that and we condemn them for that,” Tufton said during a press conference at the JLP’s St Andrew headquarters on Thursday.
Hours before that, PNP President Mark Golding told journalists that the party has received reports of “widespread suppression” of PNP votes across several marginal constituencies with reports of very large sums of money being paid.
Further, Golding said the PNP has concerns related to some aspects of the operations conducted by the Electoral Office of Jamaica, citing complaints about long wait times for electors at some polling stations.
“We think there should be an independent enquiry into the operations of the 2025 general election and it should be urgently undertaken,” he suggested.
NO FORMAL COMPLAINT
He acknowledged that the PNP has not lodged a formal complaint about voter suppression with any state agency responsible for enforcement of electoral laws.
“We are going into the field to do a survey so that we can get more tangible information rather than the indirect reports that we have been receiving,” Golding said.
Despite this, he sought to make it clear that the PNP was not suggesting the Government was not duly elected.
“I don’t want to go down that road. That’s not a wise path for Jamaica. But I also believe it’s important that we do not sweep under the carpet matters which, in this election, were significant factors at play,” he said.
But Tufton cautioned the PNP to “cease and desist from making these wild accusations”, saying it could fuel a certain level of anger and speculation that was not good for Jamaica’s democracy.