Opposition leader Mark Golding said that Jamaica needs a government that is built on a strong ethical foundation with leaders the people can trust.

While speaking at the People’s National Party (PNP) St Andrew North Eastern meeting in Barbican Square, in St Andrew on Sunday, March 30, Golding outlined that the [Jamaica Labour Party (JLP)] has had nine years of government where their leaders cannot be trusted.

“Corruption, nepotism and cronyism have been the order of the day. Where from the Prime Minister down there are issues of integrity—Integrity Commission Declarations caah certify. Eight of them under investigation for illicit enrichment—none of them have signed the Integrity Commission Code of Conduct for leadership. All of the PNP representatives have signed the leadership code of conduct, beginning with me,” he said.

On Tuesday, September 10, 2024, the PNP issued a statement to clarify misleading stories that were published by media houses indicating that their party was under investigation by the Integrity Commission. “We want to make it unequivocally clear to the public that this reporting by the Jamaica Observer is entirely separate from the eight sitting Members of Parliament cited by the Integrity Commission for illicit enrichment. The allegations reported by the Observer are not part of the ongoing investigation by the Integrity Commission into the eight sitting MPs accused of illicit enrichment. This is a blatant attempt by the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and its media allies to confuse and mislead the public, thereby creating unnecessary confusion,” the PNP said in a release.

The release also indicated that Golding consulted with all sitting representatives of the PNP, both the Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament, of which every PNP parliamentarian and senator confirmed that they were not aware of being investigated by the Integrity Commission for illicit enrichment.

“We take ethical leadership very seriously, so comrades, put your shoulders to the wheel; let us live in love and unity and do our part for the victory,” Golding said while introducing Stacey Knight as the PNP candidate for St Andrew North Eastern Constituency at the meeting.

“You have a wonderful candidate, Ms Stacey Knight, a part of the soil, a brilliant young lady, a lawyer; she has a degree in computer science… but she is here to serve you and to serve in your interest; she is the present; she is the future; give her a chance; bring her home because I want her in Gordon House with me when we form government,” Golding added.

In her address to the PNP comrades, Knight outlined that becoming a representative for the St Andrew North Eastern constituency was the right choice. “When I took on this task to be the representative for this constituency, I thought about it long and hard, and when I finally made up my mind, I knew that I was making the right decision—right, because I am purpose-driven; right, because what I’m doing is not for me; it’s for the benefit of my fellow Jamaicans; and right, because I am committed to serving with integrity, with passion and with purpose,” she said.

Knight also emphasised how proud she was to be following in the footsteps of trailblazing women and upholding her family legacy.

“I am proud to be walking in the footsteps of trailblazing women like Dr Una Clarke, who was the first Caribbean woman to be elected to the New York City legislature; women like Beverly Anderson Manley-Duncan, former first lady of Jamaica and former president of the People’s National Party’s Women’s Movement; and I cannot leave out my mother, who was a trailblazing woman in Jamaica, Dr Pauline Knight; she served as the acting director general of the Planning Institute of Jamaica. I am proud to tell you that my trailblazing mother was a member of the team who pioneered and created the PATH programme,” she added.

However, she expressed that it takes tremendous work to follow their standards while highlighting that more still needs to be done. “Walking in the footsteps of these amazing women is no easy feat, and we still have work to do as women because in spite of equal pay for women and in spite of all the achievements of the 70s that sought to bring equality of the genders today, women are still earning 81 cents to every dollar that a man earns. That wage gender gap is something that we need to close… and we’re going to fix it to bring women in line in terms of earnings.”

Knight also emphasised that she also intends to help men to achieve their full potential and indicated that there are several national issues she aims to address. “We want to establish more positive role models and guidance for our men. Men are told that they need to be leaders, the earners, the breadwinners, but sometimes our system fails them in preparing them… My aim is to uplift, to help our men to step into their rightful place as leaders that they want to be and can be.

“There are many issues of national concern… our underperforming schools—many students are leaving schools without being able to read and write. When it comes to training our young people, leaving schools and even leaving universities can’t get a good job—we need to be training our people for employment. When it comes to healthcare, our healthcare system in Jamaica is a failure. That’s not right, so we have to fix it. One of my plans for fixing healthcare in this constituency is to increase the number of clinics by having mobile clinics,” Knight added.

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