Opposition Leader Mark Golding is taking the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) administration to task for rampant, unrelenting corruption and vows that a PNP government will go after and bring to book those who committed corrupt acts.

Speaking on Sunday (May 4) at a meeting to support East Central St. Catherine PNP candidate Raymond Pryce, Golding declared: “The JLP Government is not worthy of the trust of the people of Jamaica. From top to bottom, we have an administration with a track record of corruption, nepotism, cronyism”.

“We have a prime minister of the country whose Integrity Commission’s declarations cannot be certified and he is not in good standing with the country’s anti-corruption agency, the Integrity Commission. That alone is a disqualifying factor preventing him from being eligible for a third term. The man has even taken the Integrity Commission to court,” he added.

Speaking with Our Today, political commentator Matthew Burnett said: “The PNP has seized upon the JLP’s Achilles heel, corruption or at the very least the perception of corruption. You read HG Helps on Sunday—How can you have respect for a prime minister who cannot bring clarity and certainty to his statutory declarations? That would never happen in a civilised democracy. He needs to remove this opaqueness before the general election.

“Then you have the situations with the prime minister’s friend, the former Minister of Energy, Dr Andrew Wheatley and the former Minister of Education, Ruel Reid. What this upcoming general election will reveal is whether Jamaicans are concerned about political corruption or whether it is a non-issue. That being said, the PNP is riding that horse all the way to the finish line and have yet to formulate and come to the country with a clear plan as to how it will advance the country if elected.

“It is clear the PNP are gaining ground and Mark Golding’s popularity is on the rise, whereas Andrew Holness is slipping. The response to his speech at Usain Bolt’s father’s funeral tells a lot. He has a lot of work to do against the backdrop of a faltering economy. Governments across the world are being booted out. The local elections held last year were a wake-up call for the JLP.

“Andrew Holness has to counter the accusations of illicit enrichment made against some members of his Government and do so unequivocally. Bruce Golding warned against him squandering his political capital.

Speaking in St Catherine, Mark Golding continued: “We believe in unexplained wealth orders, which this Government had committed to in the agreement which set up the Crime Monitoring Oversight Committee (CMOC) and which they have reneged on. It is an important tool in the anti-corruption arsenal. We will introduce it when we form government so that those who engage in hanky-panky can be held accountable for their wrongdoing, especially those who have multiple bank accounts and other things that indicate that all is well in the state of Jamaica.”

Burnett added: “This administration has a problem surrounding allegations of corruption and displays of unexplained wealth by leading Government officials. One senior Cabinet member is being investigated in the United States for illicit enrichment involving a multi-billion Mexican corporation.”