People’s National Party (PNP) President Mark Golding conceded defeat Wednesday night, acknowledging the Jamaica Labour Party’s (JLP) 34-29 victory in the general election and describing it as a “difficult night” for his party.
Speaking at PNP headquarters on Old Hope Road, Golding told supporters it was his duty to respect the outcome.
“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,” he said.
The Opposition party rallied from its 14-49 defeat in 2020 to win 29 seats, more than doubling its parliamentary presence, but still fell short of unseating the JLP in a largely incident-free election marked by low turnout. Just 39.5 percent of the electorate voted — a slight uptick from the 38 percent recorded in the COVID-marred 2020 polls.
Golding described the contest as 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,” he said.
Still, Golding voiced concern about delays at polling stations. “Voting was sometimes painfully slow … 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.”
He also defended the PNP’s campaign platform, which he described as progressive and transformative. “We put forward a platform that was progressive and was one that offered a radical reform to the land tenure issues that have plagued Jamaica for centuries,” 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.
Despite the disappointment, Golding declared the PNP ready for the future. “The PNP is 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.”
The JLP’s win secures Prime Minister Andrew Holness a third consecutive term in office, while positioning the PNP as a revitalized opposition force with nearly double the seats it held five years ago.
 President Mark Golding conceded defeat Wednesday night, acknowledging the Jamaica Labour Party’s 34-29 victory.){kind=link}