Politician and politics is one of the most important thing to a politically Independence country. No difference with Jamaica, Jamaican gain Political Independence form Great Britain in 1962 . Jamaica as seen a mass growth from then but not much to a First World status as expected to be by the Politician of the time and other British colony. Jamaican strongly believes in a democratic process so they been voting from 1945 Under the Universal suffrage Rights for all adult males and females to vote.
From the 1980s Jamaica Politics take a down hill turn plague with Corruption and Crime
GOING into 1980, the Jamaican Prime Minister, Michael Manley was a man under pressure. It was almost certain that his People’s National Party (PNP) would be forced to call early general election that year.
That they did, and on October 30, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) led by Edward Seaga, whipped the PNP 51 seats to nine, the biggest margin of victory in elections since Jamaica gained Independence from Great Britain in 1962.
Manley’s turbulent eight-year tenure as the country’s fourth Prime Minister had ended.
There were not only celebrations among the country’s middle-class which had feared a Communist takeover due to Manley’s socialist leanings. In 1974, Manley declared that his administration would pursue a policy of Democratic Socialism. He consistently denied accusations that he would go Communist. The poor, many of whom benefited from the PNP’s grassroots programmes, also voted against Manley who came to power in late 1972 with a mandate to elevate the country’s impoverished masses.
One day after the elections, D.K. Duncan, the PNP’s general secretary, claimed that the polls were marred by widespread fraud. He accused members of the security forces, chairman of the Electoral Advisory Committee, Professor Gladstone Mills and Director of Elections, Carl Dundas, of not doing enough to stop the alleged vote tampering.
“They should look into their hearts and say whether justice has been applied in this election by an independent, impartial group of men of integrity,” Dr. Duncan said. “I warn Edward Seaga, the corrupt members of the judiciary and the police force, that they can attack the blood, the life and the body. But they cannot attack the idea.”
The PNP executive’s tirade summed up the tension in Jamaica leading into elections which were announced by Manley in Sam Sharpe Square, Montego Bay, on October 5.
A massive crowd turned up at Sam Sharpe Square that evening. It inspired a fiery Manley to predict victory with his now famous declaration that “50,000 strong can’t be wrong!”
In February, the Prime Minister said that elections would be held later in the year. In the months that followed, the political hostility that sparked inner-city violence throughout the 1970s, spilled over into 1980.
In April, five persons were killed in what became known as the Gold Street Massacre, in Central Kingston. That month, the Hannah Town Police Station in West Kingston was attacked by thugs; two persons, including a policeman, were killed.
Things were just as unstable on the labour front. In January, Manley announced that 11,000 public sector jobs would have to be cut to facilitate the $50 million budget. Days after that statement, 300 Jamaica Public Service workers went on strike, leaving 70 per cent of the country without electricity.
Manley blamed the JLP for the instability.
“We have no reason for making our economic situation worse,” he said in Barbados in March. “They have a record of using economic destabilisation.”
Even though Manley remained combative, his Government was falling apart. Late into the second term, senior members David Coore and Vivian Blake had resigned. Two weeks after his speech in Barbados, Finance Minister Eric Bell also called it a day.
Despite the unfavourable signs, Colin Campbell who became the PM’s press secretary in early 1980, said it was a confident Manley who went on the campaign trail.
Kenneth Baugh, who contested the North West St. James seat against Howard Cooke, recalled that the mood in the JLP camp was reflected in their campaign slogan, ‘Deliverance Is Near’.
“We had very high motivation. At the start of 1980, the polls showed us in the lead and by the middle of the year we had gone into heavy campaigning,” he said.
Just before Manley announced the election date, pollster and University of the West Indies lecturer Carl Stone, predicted in The Gleaner that the JLP would win as many as 40 seats.
Going into election day, there were several tragic and eventful incidents:
Manley’s motorcade was fired on in May Pen.
Roy McGann, the PNP’s candidate for East Rural St. Andrew, and his bodyguard, acting corporal Errol White, were killed in Gordon Town.
Seven persons were killed by gunmen on National Heroes Day in Kingston. Two children were killed in Top Hill, St. Elizabeth where JLP and PNP factions clashed.
Gunfire disrupted a PNP rally in Spanish Town.
Twelve members of the Workers Party of Jamaica, including Lambert
Brown, were arrested in Lucea, Hanover for possession of bombs.
On election day, the results were devastating for Manley and the PNP. Not only did the JLP return to power in a landslide, several big names in the former administration lost their seats in parliament, including P.J.
Patterson, Howard Cooke and Arnold Bertram.
The JLP victory was welcomed islandwide, with many persons participating in day-long celebrations. Many schools and business places remained closed.
Manley, who came to power as champion of the poor, was a beaten man. In his concession speech, he said his decision to stand by Cuba and other Third World countries not popular with the United States Government, proved his Government’s downfall.
“Maybe what I did wrong was to challenge the power of the western economic structure … And for this I will remain unrepentant and unreconstructed,” he said.
Two days after the election, Edward Seaga was sworn in as Jamaica’s fifth Prime Minister. Within days, he expelled the Cuban Ambassador to Jamaica, Ulises Estrada, severed ties with that country and attempted to rebuild Jamaica’s ties with the U.S. After three years in office, he too would feel the pressure of unpopularity.
So there is crime and Corruption In Jamaica Politics from day but in current days people are finally are fed up with the way how the Politician conduct themselves in Parliament and on the streets. Jamaicans are a bit tired of the promises and how the country funds are being spent. I can fairly blame Crime in Jamaica on the Politician and there strive for power.
Politics of Jamaica
The Politics of Jamaica takes place in a framework of a representative parliamentary democratic monarchy. The 1962 Constitution established a parliamentary system based on the United Kingdom model. As chief of state, Queen Elizabeth II appoints a governor general, on the advice of the prime minister, as her representative in Jamaica. The governor general’s role is largely ceremonial. Executive power is vested in the cabinet, led by the Prime Minister. Jamaica is an independent country and Commonwealth Realm. It is a parliamentary democracy whose political and legal traditions closely follow those of the United Kingdom. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament. Jamaica’s current Constitution was drafted in 1962 by a bipartisan joint committee of the Jamaican legislature. It came into force with the Jamaica Independence Act, 1962 of the United Kingdom Parliament, which gave Jamaica political independence. Constitutional safeguards include freedom of speech, press, worship, movement, and association. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Jurisprudence is based on English common law.
Executive branch
The 1962 Constitution established a parliamentary system based on the United Kingdom model. As chief of state, Queen Elizabeth II appoints a governor general, on the advice of the prime minister, as her representative in Jamaica. The governor general’s role is largely ceremonial. Executive power is vested in the Queen, but exercised mostly by the cabinet, led by the Prime Minister.
Legislative branch
Parliament is composed of an appointed Senate and an elected House of Representatives. Thirteen Senators are nominated on the advice of the prime minister and eight on the advice of the leader of the opposition; as a two-thirds majority of both chambers is needed for major constitutional amendments, this provides a consensus requirement for significant change. General elections must be held within five years of the forming of a new government. The prime minister may ask the governor general to call elections sooner, however. The Senate may submit bills, and it also reviews legislation submitted by the House. It may not delay budget bills for more than one month or other bills for more than seven months. The prime minister and the Cabinet are selected from the Parliament. No fewer than two nor more than four members of the Cabinet must be selected from the Senate.
Political parties and elections
Judicial branch
The judiciary also is modeled on the UK system. The Court of Appeal is the highest appellate court in Jamaica. Under certain circumstances, cases may be appealed to the United Kingdom’s Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Jamaica’s parishes have elected councils that exercise limited powers of local government.
Firearms offenses, including possession of unlicensed guns and ammunition, are tried before a dedicated Gun Court established in 1974. The Gun Court hears cases in camera and practices jury trial only for cases of treason or murder. All other cases are tried by resident magistrates or justices of the Supreme Court of Jamaica.
Administrative divisions
Jamaica is divided in 14 parishes: Clarendon, Hanover, Kingston, Manchester, Portland, Saint Andrew, Saint Ann, Saint Catherine, Saint Elizabeth, Saint James, Saint Mary, Saint Thomas, Trelawny, Westmoreland.
PEOPLE BE WISE DON”T GET TRICK BY POLITICIAN AND THEIR FALSE PROMISES.
Fed up with chronic hard times, voters in this debt-wracked Caribbean nation on Thursday threw out the ruling party and delivered a landslide triumph to the opposition People’s National Party, or PNP, whose campaign energetically tapped voter disillusionment especially among the numerous struggling poor.
October is celebrated as the international breast cancer awareness month and the whole month is dedicated to various activities supporting the motive of the spreading awareness. Pink is the breast cancer awareness color and anyone wearing pink ribbon during the month of October, is identified as a moral supporter for the breast cancer campaign and also extending moral support to the women suffering this devastating disease.
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