KINGSTON, Jamaica — People’s National Party (PNP) leader Mark Golding has announced he is renouncing his British citizenship.
This follows a lengthy debate over whether anyone seeking to become Jamaican prime minister should have dual citizenship.
Golding made the announcement at a PNP meeting on Sunday and later shared it on social media.
“As I have promised, I will now take the time to listen to internal and external views before making an informed decision regarding British citizenship,” Golding captioned the video announcing her intentions.
He said that while he was not legally barred from holding British citizenship, he did not want it to affect his future candidacy.
“I do not want my status to influence the party or the candidates contesting my seat. All things must be taken into consideration, so I will be renounceing my British citizenship. Thank you all for your views and feedback over the past month. Now let’s get back to the real issues affecting the majority of Jamaicans,” Golding said.
Golding came under fire from members of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) who questioned his nationality after he stated his support for allowing dual nationals to sit in Parliament House and reiterated his position to Jamaica’s Court of Appeal.
In calling for the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) to become Jamaica’s final court of appeal, Golding also said Jamaica should not be in a position where it has “one foot in King Charles’ garden and one foot out”.
These comments led to numerous calls on social media for him to declare whether he is both Jamaican and British national.
In a social media post, Goulding sought to clear up the confusion, saying: “I was born in Jamaica and I hold a Jamaican passport.”
However, he has since said he has both Jamaican and British nationality, the latter through descent from his father who emigrated to Jamaica from the UK. He said he was not renouncing his British nationality because it was not “legally necessary”.
Read: Golding adamant on dual citizenship issue
But he maintained that he would only renounce his British citizenship if the Jamaican people demanded it.
