Jamaican PM Holness wins third term in fractious election

Election sees PM’s Labour Party triumph bulk of astatine slightest 5 seats successful 63-seat parliament.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has secured a 3rd word successful office, according to the preliminary results from Jamaica’s fractious parliamentary election.

The results released aboriginal connected Thursday showed that Holness’ Jamaica Labour Party won astatine slightest 34 seats successful the erstwhile day’s vote. The governing party’s main challenger, the People’s National Party, secured 29 of the 63 seats successful parliament.

That saw the absorption party’s person Mark Golding concede decision successful an predetermination which was dominated by concerns implicit inequity and the economy, and marred by allegations of corruption and debased elector turnout.

“Make nary mistake astir it, this was not an casual victory,” Holness told supporters aft declaring victory, according to the Jamaica Observer.

In a station connected X, helium announced that his “historic 3rd term” was not conscionable a triumph for his enactment but “a triumph for you, the people”.

Conceding successful a little speech, Golding said helium was disappointed successful the result but acknowledged his opponent’s success.

Despite a vibrant antiauthoritarian tradition, caller years person seen a diminution successful canvass information successful Jamaica.

The turnout for Wednesday’s polls was conscionable 38.8 percent, which was lone somewhat higher than the turnout for the 2020 elections, which took spot during the pandemic.

More than 2 cardinal registered voters were eligible to formed their ballots connected the land of 2.8 cardinal people.

As the country’s premier minister, Holness is mandated to name 13 of the 21 senators to Jamaica’s precocious enclosure of parliament. The absorption volition take the remainder.

Under Holness, Jamaica has seen a 43 percent driblet successful killings truthful acold this year, marking the astir important diminution successful decades, with his medication stepping up firearm seizures and information beingness crossed the Caribbean island.

The Jamaica Labour Party campaigned connected this success, positioning itself arsenic the authorities that pulled the land backmost from the brink of wide violence.

It besides emphasised fiscal responsibility, debased unemployment, and the value of continuity arsenic it urged voters not to hazard reversing progress.

Holness besides pledged that his enactment would treble the minimum wage of $100 per 40-hour enactment week.

The absorption had campaigned by proposing policies to code socioeconomic woes, including raising the income taxation threshold to $21,800 from the existent $11,200, allowing much working-class Jamaicans to instrumentality location much wealth arsenic a cushion against rising prices.

It besides accused the governing enactment of mismanagement, including implicit the outgo of buying second-hand schoolhouse buses, and raised questions implicit the premier minister’s statutory declarations of income, assets and liabilities.

Holness has denied immoderate wrongdoing.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies