Prime Minister Andrew Holness says the leader of the country should have no ‘split loyalties’ as it regards to their citizenship.

This follows a recent revelation by the leader of the opposition, Mark Golding, that he remains a British citizen.

Golding has noted that he has not moved to renounce his British citizenship because he is not required by law to do so. The Jamaican constitution currently allows Commonwealth citizens ages 21 and older to sit in Parliament.

“I believe that the Jamaican diaspora is much bigger than our Commonwealth and that the Jamaican Commonwealth is our diaspora, wherever they are, and that we should allow persons with Jamaican citizenship to be able to serve Jamaicans in our Parliament politically. For it doesn’t matter what citizenship you have once you swear allegiance, being a Jamaican citizen to Jamaica, Holness said.

However, he noted that this differs for persons seeking to occupy executive roles, such as the Prime Minister and opposition leader.

“To be the ultimate leader of a country, to be the ultimate executive leader of the country, you should have no other citizenship. There should be no question by your citizens that you lead, that you have somehow split loyalties, that you have a parashoot should anything go wrong. That you may not be subject to the full force of the laws of the country you serve because you are another citizen of another country. You could always find a way out, and I think that is important. In the minds of every Jamaican, the question would be, is the leader of your country fully, holy, and solely committed to your best interest, and there is no other loyalty or interest drawing on decisions that they make.

In other words, if you allow the leader of the country, in whatever position that leader is, to have another loyalty, then every decision that this leader makes will be open for questions, so it is an untenable situation, and if you intend to become leader of the country, whether as Prime Minister or any soft leadership, leader of the opposition, or to head the Parliament, whatever it is, you really should divest yourself of any other loyalty that you may have,” Holness said.

The Prime Minister said once a Commonwealth citizen is seeking to serve as a Prime Minister then they must divest any other citizenship.

He was speaking during a local television morning show on Monday, May 20.