People’s National Party (PNP) presidential aspirant Mark Golding is playing down Prime Minister Andrew Holness’ likeability factor and the role it may have played in the September 3 General Election which saw the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) deliver a shellacking to the PNP.

Speaking with Loop News, Golding said the election statistics do not indicate that the prime minister’s personality had any influence over the electorate, as only 21 per cent of registered voters cast their ballot for the JLP.

Quizzed if he can overcome the so-called ‘Brand Holness’ factor, Golding stated: “I think I am charismatic. I think I have had an interesting life.”

“Roughly 79 per cent of the voting public didn’t vote for the current government. So, I don’t think that the hype around Mr Holness is something for us to fear. I think if we bring substance, a clear message that resonates with the Jamaican people and if we conduct our affairs with integrity so that we are trustworthy, people will turn to us and I am confident of that,” Golding said.

Speaking about his “interesting life”, Golding said a huge chunk of his childhood was spent at the University of the West Indies’ Mona campus – where his father Sir John Golding, Jamaica’s first orthopaedic surgeon, was a professor – and neighbouring communities.

“I grew up on the university campus, riding bicycle, fishing in the river, playing football and cricket, made friends with people from surrounding communities – Hermitage, August Town – and played ball with them.

“So, I had a kind of well-rounded upbringing in terms of understanding people of all sorts in Jamaica,” Golding said.

He said that apart from football and cricket, his other interests included a sojourn into the island’s music industry that included being a producer, an artiste and a songwriter.

Golding said that his political ideology is in line with the democratic socialism founding principle of the PNP.

“The People’s National Party from its foundation was built on the principles of socialism. I am not too concerned about using labels in describing what we are. I think what really matters are the principles that underline the movement.

“Those principles are based on the quest for social justice; for righting historical wrongs that have plagued the Jamaican society; to make our society fairer and more just; the principle of equality of opportunity; and allowing all Jamaicans to get the right start in life, so that they can pursue their aspirations, based on their capacity and their determination, without any kind of structural impediments that make life unfairly tilted against them.

“This is what the People’s National Party has always stood for and continues to stand for and I believe will always stand for,” Golding said.

He, however, opined that policies and programmes must be developed that embody the democratic socialist goal for a specific time amid an evolving global environment which makes a revisit of the strategies a necessity.

Golding, a successful businessman, said both capitalism and democratic socialism can co-mingle in the modern world.

“Entrepreneurialism and business are important drivers of employment, investment and innovation. Jamaicans are natural entrepreneurs.

“I am somebody who has started more than one business and built those businesses to be very successful. I understand what it takes to build a successful organisation. How to work as a team. How to build loyalty within the team, wow to strengthen teamwork and deliver results.

“So I believe that my experience in business is very consistent with our overall philosophy, which is one of empowering the people and delivering a Jamaica where every person has a chance in life. I strongly believe in that and I think that that my own life personifies what can be achieved in that regard,” Golding said.

Currently, Golding is the chairman of the successful Arnett Gardens Football Club, which play in the top tier National Premier League. He is also involved with plans to strengthen the island’s football structure.

So, what’s in store for Mark Golding if he loses?

“You know I haven’t thought about that, because I actually think I am going to win and I am quite confident that the delegates understand what the party needs at this time and I think if they look at what the party needs and look at the profiles of the candidates, they will see that I am the person that actually has the best fit for that and that I am the right person to lead the party at this time,” Golding said.

Golding, who is the Member of Parliament (MP) for South St Andrew, will face South East St Ann MP Lisa Hanna to take over the reins of the PNP. The election will be held on November 7.

https://www.loopjamaica.com/content/holness-hype-nothing-fear-says-golding

Alaw passed in Jamaica on Tuesday decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana, while also laying the groundwork for regulating the drug’s cultivation and medical usage.

The new law states that possession of up to 2 oz. of pot or weed, as it is otherwise known, will be considered a petty offense without going on a person’s criminal record, the Associated Press reported.

It also legalizes the cultivation of up to five marijuana plants on any premises and the use of the drug for religious purposes. Furthermore, tourists prescribed medical marijuana abroad can apply for a permit to buy it locally.

The amendment in Jamaica, where weed has long been a part of daily life but remained illegal, comes soon after Alaska became the third U.S. state to legalize recreational marijuana.

However, both American and Jamaican authorities insisted that this does not change the strict rules and guidelines around cross-border drug trafficking and illegal cultivation.

Mark Golding is aware of the suspicion that his challenge for the presidency of the People’s National Party (PNP) has evoked among some party faithful.

The unease in some PNP circles, insiders say, is based on fears that Golding is merely seeking to pave the way for Peter Bunting, his long-time friend and business partner, to realise his ambition of leading the political organisation.

Golding, who acknowledged that Bunting has provided support and encouragement for his candidacy, has frowned at the suggestion.

“I value my reputation. I live by ethical principles and I think it would he highly unethical and immoral for me to put myself forward as a leader of the party as some kind of placeholder for anybody else,” he said.

“Absolutely, I am flatly rejecting that notion.”

Bunting, with Golding as his right hand man, failed in his bid just over a year ago to unseat Dr Peter Phillips as PNP president, a move some insiders believe is at the centre of the deep divisions within the floundering party.

Following the PNP’s landslide defeat in last month’s general election, Phillips announced that he was walking away from the post, setting up a second presidential election in 14 months that could cause further divisions within the PNP.

Golding, the member of parliament (MP) for St Andrew Southern, and St Ann South Eastern MP Lisa Hanna have already declared their candidacy for the November 7 contest.

It has been a meteoric rise for Golding, the 55-year-old attorney and investment banker, who admitted that up to 13 years ago when he first stepped on to the national political stage, he was content with being part of the supporting cast.

“It wasn’t an easy decision [to enter the race for PNP president] because it’s not a question of a burning ambition to hold the top post or anything. I’m not motivated by those kinds of motivations,” he told The Sunday Gleaner.

His introduction to politics came in 2007 after the PNP was booted from office and Portia Simpson Miller, the president and Opposition leader at the time, asked him, through an intermediary, to serve as a senator.

BOLD MOVE

“I was involved with some prior campaigns, but not as an activist or even being a member of the party. I think it was a bold move by Sista P because I wasn’t involved in the party; I wasn’t an insider,” he recounted of his political experience at the time.

The PNP regained state power in 2012 and Golding was appointed to the Cabinet as justice minister.

In 2016, he defeated veteran politician Colin Campbell to take over the prized so-called PNP safe seat of St Andrew Southern from the retiring Dr Omar Davies.

He entered the Lower House the following year after a by-election victory.

Golding opined that the PNP “needs somebody with the skill set and maturity” he brings to the table, and believes his time as a legislator, coupled with his extensive experience in the private sector, has prepared him for the role of PNP president.

“I think that I am still young enough to have the energy and connect with voters of all ages,” he insisted.

“I think I have the capacity in terms of my legal training, my understanding of economics and finance, … my work in governance as chairman of the legislation committee of the Cabinet, having responsibility for delivering all of the structural legislative benchmarks for the IMF (International Monetary Fund) programme,” he said.

Seemingly trying to head off the vitriol that marred last year’s presidential contest, Golding called Hanna a respected colleague who “brings a lot to the table”.

But he suggested that Hanna will have other opportunities to “shine” before signalling that she will have a role to play in the rebuilding of the political organisation if he becomes the next president.

“She is younger than me and I think that her time to shine is in the future. There must be a prominent place for her in the party and certainly when I win, I will want to work with her and others who do not support me,” said Golding.

“I just happen to think that at this point in time, the mix that I bring to the table is what the party needs. It’s really an appreciation of the history of our party and where we are now and feeling like I can bring a lot to the table, and I am ready for the job.”

Hanna did not respond to several requests for a Sunday Gleaner interview.

PLANS TO RETROFIT PARTY

Golding also unveiled a raft of initiatives he wants to pursue as part of his plan to retrofit and modernise the 82-year-old political party.

At the top of the list, he said, is constitutional reforms to make the PNP “more democratic” by giving voting rights to more members and come up with specific responsibilities for its vice-presidents “so they can be accountable to the membership for their performance”.

Further, he wants to raise the profile of PNP affiliate groups such as its youth organisation, the young professional arm and the women’s group and “integrate them more in the decision-making process”.

Golding also dusted off an idea he first floated last year to create a trust fund that would be used to provide assistance for the foot soldiers of the party.

“We need to really focus on strengthening our party workers, empowering them through political education and training, including lifestyle skills.”

He said he has done some work to develop the trust fund and hope to be able to roll it out if he is successful on November 7.

The St Andrew South MP believes that for several reasons, this year’s presidential election will be bereft of any acrimony or divisiveness.

He opined that the healing process that followed last year’s contest was not as effective as it needed to be, even as he acknowledged that efforts were made on both sides.

“There were still outstanding issues that needed to be resolved.”

He noted that last year’s contest was the result of a decision by Bunting to challenge Phillips’ leadership.

“It was really based on his perception, and others who supported him, that we were facing a severe defeat at the poll and that some changes needed to be made to address that,” he reasoned.

This year’s contest, Golding said, is taking place at a time when the PNP is “at a very low ebb” and when there is a clear vacancy for the position of president.

livern.barrett@gleanerjm.com

He is a serious contender for president of the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP), a businessman and lawyer, but what other facts are there to be known about Mark J Golding?

Well, the Member of Parliament for St Andrew Southern was reproduced on the Jamaican ‘rock’ from an alliance with strong English and Jamaican fixtures.

His father, the highly-respected orthopaedic surgeon, Sir John Golding, had landed in Jamaica in 1953, met on arrival at the dock by Dr Ken McNeill, then minister of health and father of Dr K Wykeham McNeill, a former PNP MP and Cabinet minister. According to Mark, Professor Golding was originally enroute to the United States to take up a post at the University of Chicago, but he fell in love with Jamaica and never left, except for visits overseas.

Mark’s mother, Patricia Levy, later Lady Golding after her marriage to Sir John, was the daughter of Jamaican senior medical officer at Savanna-la-Mar Hospital in Westmoreland, Dr Logan Levy, who died when she was seven, leaving her upbringing to her English mom, who, in a strange land, was forced to work hard to educate Patricia and another sibling.

Lady Golding is alive, though quite frail.

The coming together of Jamaica’s first orthopaedic surgeon, and a public servant first brought forward a girl in 1963, and two years later, Mark opened his eyes for the world to see.

“My upbringing was on the campus (The University of the West Indies),” Golding disclosed to the Jamaica Observer.

“In my teenage years I used to love dancehall music, I used to go Jah Love and Kilamanjaro (sound systems), go to August Town and Hermitage … still do, and I was exposed to all aspects of Jamaican life.

“I spent a lot of time in communities which would now be considered as inner-city communities,” he said.

Still close to his only sibling who lives in Trinidad & Tobago and is married to a doctor who doubles as a businessman, Mark has a high regard for the institution of family and what accompanies it, including caring for people, generally.

“I grew up on the university campus in the 1970s, at a time when progressive thinking, and the anti-apartheid movement were powerful currents around me and I have always had a progressive orientation as a youth coming up.

My mother’s first job was in the central planning unit when Norman Manley was premier in the (early) 60s. She left and went to the (Mona) rehab centre to help my father build it, and spent the rest of her career there, essentially working as a volunteer.

“My father was an institution builder. Whatever private practice he did, which was very little, the proceeds went to help fund his activities at the rehab centre. He started the Hope Valley School, the FISH Clinic, the Hospice Pain Centre… my dad was a philanthropist as well as a doctor, and my mom her career was in the same vein.

“The mindset of my family has always been about caring for people and I have always felt compelled, even when I was doing business and becoming successful at it, I have always felt the urge in serving the country.

“In 2006 when we sold DB&G (merchant bank Dehring, Bunting & Golding) I then took the opportunity to say I can comfortably give of myself to Jamaica and (PNP President) Portia (Simpson Miller) made me an Opposition senator in 2007.”

He has been with wife Sandra for 36 years, 30 of them as a married couple — a union that has produced three adult children — two girls and a boy, who are all in Jamaica.

“She is a wonderful lady who has been a source of strength and comfort to me that has enabled me to achieve the things that I have, whether in law or business and now in politics,” the self-described family man said of his wife. “We are a very good couple,” he went on.

Mark’s education foundation was established at Mona Preparatory where he did what most children without the luxury of the Internet and tablet at the time would use their extra-curricular time to do – play football, sing in the choir and other things.

A Campion College student, he served his formative secondary school years there, representing the institution that has an enviable record of producing scholars, in schoolboy cricket from early, playing in the Sunlight Cup, now named the Grace Shield.

“I was keen on cricket. I played Sunlight Cup from second form. I used to bowl left-arm orthodox and I batted also,” the naturally left-handed player said of his hitherto unheard of venture into what has always been regarded as ‘the gentleman’s game.’

In the Campion line-up at the time was one Chris Dehring, about five years Mark’s senior, who represented Jamaica Under-19 teams at cricket and football, and would become one of Mark’s business partners later in life.

A trip to his father’s birthplace to finish his secondary education at his dad’s old boarding school, also led Mark to read for his Bachelor of Law degree at the world-rated Oxford University.

Returning to Jamaica and spending two years at Norman Manley Law School, he, not long after, got a scholarship overseas to pursue his master’s degree in law (LLM) in commercial and corporate law.

“I built my legal practice around corporate finance mergers and acquisitions. I was practising for about three years, I knew Chris Dehring and Peter Bunting from Campion, they were ahead of me, and then we started DB&G.

“I knew Bunting through Chris and others. They were both in banking and when I came back they were looking to do innovative things — two bright young Citibank-trained bankers and they needed legal services to carry that and they both used me to do that. After a while we said why don’t we do this together and that’s how DB&G started.

Add DB&G, which was sold to Scotiabank in 2006, to Proven Investments, now a decade old, and a story about level-headed management that involves him would emerge.

The one-time footballer, who played for fun into his forties, is also now chairman of Arnett Gardens Football Club, which he is working to put on a sustainable footing for when he would have left the scene.

Mark, in his trip through politics, desires to have a positive effect on whatever he touches, just like his dad did when he was tasked to handle the tragic Kendal train crash of September 1, 1957, the outbreak of polio, which led to the establishment of the Polio Centre, renamed the Mona Rehab Centre, and now the Sir John Golding Centre.

“I am offering myself for the leadership of the party at this time because I think the party is at a very low ebb and it needs to be brought together by somebody who can be a unifying force, somebody who has the experience and the capacity to lead the party through this difficult time.

“ I think I have the approach to interpersonal relations and as a leader in my own constituency which I brought together. We have over 100 members. South St Andrew is by far the strongest constituency when it comes to the YO (youth organisation). And I really encourage them because I see engaging young people as a very important part of what we do and the party needs to bring the YO much more centrally into what we do, and nurture them, build their capacity, because the party needs to be stronger with young people, and one of the reasons that we are not as strong as we should be is that we have not properly integrated the YO into the actual decision-making of the party and how the party is run. And not just the YO, the Patriots, which is the affiliate that deals with young professionals in their thirties, and the Women’s Movement as well.

“All of our affiliates need to take on a new lease on life in the rebuilding of the party,” he said.

Just in case you didn’t know, Mark has a musical side to him, though all but redundant now because of time constraints. Ray Hitchen and himself had a label called Riverside Music, which produced three albums, including Della Manley’s first album Ashes on the Windowsill.

The skills of Dr Peter Phillips will be sought to play an advisory role in the future development of the People’s National Party (PNP), if presidential aspirant Mark Golding has any say in the matter.

Golding, in a late week interview with the Jamaica Observer, underlined his respect for the outgoing president of the 82-year-old PNP, adding that Phillips’ knowledge of the Jamaican landscape placed him in an advantageous position from which the party can learn many things.

“Peter has tremendous understanding of the Jamaican society and history,” said Golding. “He is a brilliant man in his own right. He also has a tremendous network of contacts that he has made over the years, so he can play an important role of guiding and supporting the leadership of the party by allowing us to benefit from his knowledge and experience, much in the way that PJ Patterson still plays — an important role like that.”

Patterson, who retired as prime minister and president of the PNP in 2006, has maintained his contact with the party that he continues to support, going over six decades.

It was Patterson, and former Cabinet minister and Member of Parliament Burchell Whiteman who only days ago made recommendations to the party in respect of, among other things, procedures that could be followed during the transitional period.

Golding said that while like Patterson, Dr Phillips was not expected to be involved in the daily grind of attracting people to the embattled organisation which won only 14 seats in the Legislature at the end of the September 3 General Election — the other 49 in the 63-seat House of Representatives going to the Jamaica Labour Party – having the former finance minister serving in an advisory capacity would serve the party well.

“Him having retired, I don’t think he would want to be in front line politics,” Golding suggested of the former finance minister, who is credited with strengthening the financial walls of the economy between 2012 and 2016.

As for why the PNP lost the September 3 election, which confirmed the resignation of Dr Phillips, Golding, a lawyer and businessman who will likely face MP Lisa Hanna as the other candidate in the race for party president, put it down to a combination of factors.

“Our organisation primarily, we have allowed it, to the point where it is no longer, on election day, able to deliver what is required to win an election.

“Financing of the party has been a struggle. In popularity terms we were up against Andrew Holness who has become a very popular person and we lacked a clear message as to where we were going. Our manifesto was published quite late and I don’t think there was enough time to get people to understand it and buy into it.

“So it was a range of factors at play. We had gone through leadership challenges which had left some perceived unsettled issues. On the ground there was a perception that the leadership was not as united as they should have been, though as far as I was concerned we were all pulling together.

“We did have that issue where we wanted to meet with the leader, we had that meeting and it was a great meeting. Some adjustments were made that made the team more cohesive, so the unity issue was not one of substance.”

Golding commented that there were still things that needed to be fixed, insisting that “if we still hold on to tribes within the party, we have nowhere going”.