Leader of the Opposition People's National Party (PNP), Mark Golding, has expressed gratitude to the judiciary for its decision to grant an interim injunction, temporarily blocking the Government's move to declare Portmore Jamaica's 15th parish.
"... The (presiding) judge has said you can't go any further with this thing for now, and we are very happy for that, and we feel that's the right decision, and we thank the judiciary for standing up for justice and the Constitution," Golding stated.
He was speaking at the PNP's 'Change Maker Conversation' series in August Town, St Andrew on Thursday night.
The PNP president reiterated his position that the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is attempting to use the parish status as a means to re-engineer constituency boundaries in Portmore for political gain.
"The JLP is trying to use this idea of making Portmore a parish as essentially a way of re-engineering the boundaries of certain constituencies in Portmore, to achieve advantage politically for themselves," Golding told his audience.
The Supreme Court's decision to grant an interim injunction has halted the implementation of the Counties and Parishes (Amendment) Act, 2025, which was passed by both houses of Parliament despite opposition from the PNP.
Chief Justice Bryan Sykes, who heard the matter on Thursday, ordered that the injunction will remain in place until the matter is again heard on Friday, March 28.
The orders also prevent Local Government and Community Development Minister, Desmond McKenzie, from naming a date for the law to take effect.
Golding declared that the PNP's decision to take the matter to court was justified.
"Well, we took the matter to court, and on Monday, we filed a constitutional suit, and I am happy today (Thursday) to say that I've been advised that the court has granted an injunction to prevent that law from coming into effect," he said to cheered of seeming approval of the news.
"It is what we call an interim injunction, because the matter has been adjourned until next week Friday, when the arguments will continue before the judge," Golding informed.
The PNP has argued that the law granting parish status to Portmore would be "immediately unconstitutional", as only the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) can determine electoral boundaries.
A former ECJ chairman and a former director of elections have warned that if the law was enacted before the upcoming General Elections, the country would be faced with a constitutional crisis.
