People’s National Party (PNP) Leader Mark Golding was forced to defend his party’s credibility during the 2025 General Election Debate on Thursday, regarding a past controversy involving General Secretary Julian Robinson and his agreement on the salary increase for parliamentarians under the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) government.

On May 16, 2023, Robinson appeared to support a controversial salary increase for parliamentarians. Yet, just 24 hours later, the PNP released a public statement condemning the raises.

In response, Golding defended the party’s position, saying Robinson’s remarks were misunderstood and made before the full details of the proposed salary package were available.

“When Julian said that in Parliament, he was referring to the principle of parliamentarians getting an increase. He wasn’t addressing the specifics of what was being proposed. We hadn’t had a discussion around those specifics,” Golding said. “When we looked at the details and we saw the massive increase that the prime minister was proposing for himself and for his ministers, we felt it was unconscionable to do that.”

Golding argued that the context of recent public sector negotiations, especially with teachers receiving modest increases of around 20 per cent over two years, made the government’s pay hike deeply unfair.

“That’s why we had to clarify our position,” he said. “It was not in accordance with what we thought the principle demanded.”

However, Prime Minister Andrew Holness, in a fiery response, accused Golding of dishonesty.

“I have to call out that the Leader of the Opposition is telling lies,” Holness said. “Julian Robinson stood in Parliament and said he supported the increase. Clear. And the tapes are there.”

Holness then pivoted to a broader critique of political integrity, pointing out that while Robinson and others condemned the pay hike, they ultimately accepted it.

“He called the increase unconscionable—yet he took it,” Holness charged. “I, Andrew Michael Holness, did not take it. The option was available to him as well. I chose not to take it.”

The prime minister also addressed recent allegations that he held 28 bank accounts, dismissing them as political spin.

“That is absolutely not true,” Holness said. “The report of the Integrity Commission includes closed accounts, dormant accounts, insurance accounts, and investment accounts. They’ve weaponised the process.”