Golding to Renounce UK Citizenship “if Demanded by Public”

Opposition Leader Mark Golding says he will relinquish his UK citizenship, but only if the Jamaican people say he should.

Speaking in an interview on TVJ’s Smile Jamaica on Tuesday morning, Golding says under the constitutional reform process, if the matter is debated and Jamaicans say their prime minister and opposition leader should not be dual citizens, he’s willing, at that point to renounce his British citizenship.

We have more in this report from Mahiri Stewart.

Mark Golding says he would renounce his status if the Jamaican people feel strongly enough about the fact that he is a citizen of both Jamaica and Britain.

In the Smile Jamaica interview, Golding repeated his position that he has no legal reason to renounce his British citizenship.

He again cited the relevant section of the constitution which allows people from commonwealth countries like Britain to sit in the Jamaican parliament.

Golding has come under fire over his status as a dual citizen, given his strong views about the urgency with which Jamaica should move to cut all ties with the monarchy.

It’s his unequivocal stance that Jamaica cannot leave the British monarchy behind, while at the same time retaining its link with the judicial committee of the UK based Privy Council, that has caused the PNP president to be accused of hypocrisy.

The Opposition Leader says the firestorm surrounding his admission that he’s a British citizen is a distraction from the issues confronting Jamaica.

Golding says given that the Constitution is on his side, he has never seen his dual citizenship as a big issue.

According to Mark Golding, the matter was being used to attack him. He says renouncing his British citizenship was not something he had considered before.

The opposition leader also told Smile Jamaica he would continue to pray and reflect on the issue before deciding what to do.

Meanwhile, Mr. Golding says he hasn’t been using his UK passport for a very long time and intends to give it up.

The opposition leader says since 2012 when he came into government, he decided not to use his UK passport.

According to Mr. Golding he has a UK visa in his Jamaican diplomatic passport.