Member of Parliament (MP) for West Portland Daryl Vaz has called for the Opposition Leader of the People’s National Party, Mark Golding, to clarify the renunciation status of his UK citizenship.

Vaz expressed that in 2009, when he renounced his citizenship, he presented a renunciation certificate. “That was my duty as someone that wanted to represent the people of West Portland. In June 2024, after two years of [Mark Golding] hiding it, he finally came out and admitted that he was a UK citizen. He also admitted he was going to renounce.

“To date there has been no proof of that renunciation, and that is a problem to me and should be to every well-thinking Jamaican, and this should not be a matter that is to be raised on a political platform because the members of civil society have not seen it and deem it fit to make sure that they call for it and get it, he continued.”

Vaz underscored that it is fundamentally wrong for any person who is wishing to seek the highest office in the country to have allegiance to anywhere other than Jamaica. “Mark Golding has a duty and a responsibility, and it should not be by pressure; it should be by morals and integrity that he comes to the people of Jamaica and clarifies and proves that he is now 100 per cent Jamaican.”

He expressed that there is no issue if someone got a citizenship because of a relative but calls for the opposition to take responsibility and accountability on this matter. “I don’t have any problem if you are born and get citizenship like I got because of my mother, but when the time comes, the time comes, and you must be open, honest, and transparent or go home… If he does not [clarify] between now and whenever that date is called, he should be rejected out of hand by every well-thinking citizen of Jamaica, including members of his own party,” Vaz noted.

While presenting at the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Area Council Two Leadership Meeting at Lynch Park Buff Bay, Portland, on Sunday, February 10, Vaz outlined that it is important that citizens understand that they are at a crossroads in the history of modern Jamaica.

“I will continue to do what I need to do in energy, transport, telecommunications, science, and anywhere else they want to put me because I am a dedicated son of Jamaica who feels it is important for me based on the privilege that I got that my parents could send me to a good school and give me a good roof over my head, and my only wish is to give back, which I have been doing for the last 18 years as a Member of Parliament and 10 years as a minister of government.”

Vaz also reminded MPs to ensure that they serve their entire constituency when they are elected, even if they are not supported by all constituents. “When you run an election and you are running on a party ticket, you are running as a candidate of the particular party, in this case the Jamaica Labour Party. When you become a Member of Parliament, everything changes because you are an MP for every single constituent in the constituency, regardless of whether they voted for you, voted against you, or did not vote. You have a moral authority, and you have a moral duty to make sure that you uplift the people and the constituency that you now represent,” he noted.