Who is the political leader of Jamaica?
Prime Minister of Jamaica
The Prime Minister of Jamaica is Jamaica's head of government, currently Andrew Holness. Holness, as leader of the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), was sworn in as Prime Minister on 3 March 2016, succeeding People's National Party (PNP) leader Portia Simpson-Miller. This was a result of the JLP's victory in Jamaica's 25 February 2016 general election.
Monarchy of Jamaica
Individuals in both major political parties in Jamaica have voiced support for making Jamaica a republic. In September 2003, then Prime Minister of Jamaica P. J. Patterson called for Jamaica to abolish the monarchy by 2007. Bruce Golding, while prime minister and leader of the conservative Jamaican Labour Party, also pledged that Jamaica shall "take steps to amend the constitution to replace the Queen with a Jamaican President who symbolises the unity of the nation".
List of heads of state of Jamaica
The Governor-General is the representative of the Monarch in Jamaica and exercises most of the powers of the Monarch. The Governor-General is appointed for an indefinite term, serving at the pleasure of the Monarch. After the passage of the Statute of Westminster 1931, the Governor-General is appointed solely on the advice of the Cabinet of Jamaica without the involvement of the British government. In the event of a vacancy the Chief Justice served as Officer Administering the Government.There are two living former Jamaican Heads of State:
Independence of Jamaica
Bustamante became the first Prime Minister of Jamaica and joined the Commonwealth of Nations, an organisation of ex-British territories. Jamaica continues to be a Commonwealth realm, with the British monarch, Elizabeth II, remaining as Queen of Jamaica and head of state.
Stanley Redwood
Following the 2011 general election, which saw the People's National Party regain the majority, Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller named Redwood to the Senate of Jamaica, where he was immediately named President of the Senate. He was one of six new senators, and one of five new senators from the ruling People's National Party. Redwood and 62 other new members to the Parliament were sworn in on 17 January 2012.
Edward Seaga
Edward Philip George Seaga ( or ; ON, PC; born 28 May 1930) is a former Jamaican politician. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Jamaica, from 1980 to 1989, and the leader of the Jamaica Labour Party from 1974 to 2005. He served as leader of the opposition from 1974 to 1980, and again from 1989 until January 2005.
Republicanism in Jamaica
The PNP government was defeated at the 2007 general election. The new prime minister, JLP leader Bruce Golding, promised that his government would "amend the Constitution to replace the Queen with a Jamaican president who symbolises the unity of the nation", but the JLP's term in government came to an end at the 2011 general election without any formal steps towards a republic having been taken. Portia Simpson-Miller, the PNP leader and new prime minister, also publicly affirmed her government's commitment to republicanism, stating a preference for an elected president. However, the PNP lost power at the 2016 general election without bringing about constitutional change. Andrew Holness, Simpson-Miller's successor as prime minister, also affirmed a commitment to republicanism upon taking office, and stated his government would introduce a bill to replace the Queen with "a non-executive president as head of state".
Jamaica Association of Local Government Officers
As of 2007, Stanley Thomas is the president and Helene Davis-Whyte is the General Secretary.
David P. Rowe
A law reform advocate, Rowe has publicly recommended that campaign finance legislation be adopted in the Commonwealth Caribbean to regulate political lobbying and make bribery of local politicians illegal;however, Campaign finance remains an unregulated legislative area in Jamaica today. In 2012, in a public lecture at the Norman Manley Law School in Kingston Jamaica, Rowe recommended that Jamaica adopt a Speedy Trial law to reduce its huge back log of criminal law cases and to expedite the period of time that incarcerated individuals in Jamaica have to wait for trial. Rowe has also condemned anti-homophobic domestic violence and violence to children in Jamaica, and has urged successive Governments in Jamaica to adopt corrective measures. Rowe is also an outspoken critic of the high murder rate in Jamaica, and relates it to connections between criminal narcotic elements and the political establishment in Jamaica. Rowe endorses the theory of Oxford Professor A. R. Dicey and relates his principles of the Rule of Law to the Commonwealth Caribbean.
Governor-General of Jamaica
The Governor-General of Jamaica represents the The British Monarch and head of state, currently Queen Elizabeth II.
Homosexuality and Seventh-day Adventism
In a November 2011 interview with a Jamaican newspaper, The Gleaner, Seventh-day Adventist and then-Prime Minister Andrew Holness rejected calls from Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron that he repeal Jamaica's "anti-buggery" laws, which criminalize same-sex intimacy with jail times of up to 10 years. Holness served as Prime Minister of Jamaica from October 2011 until January 2012, when he was succeeded by Simpson-Miller.
Politics of Jamaica
The Constitution vests executive power in the cabinet, led by the Prime Minister. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested both in the government and in the Parliament of Jamaica.
Leader of the Opposition (Dominica)
The Leader of the Opposition of the Commonwealth of Dominica is the Member of Parliament who leads the Official Opposition in the House of Assembly of Dominica. The current Leader of the Opposition is Hector John of the United Workers' Party, sworn in 19 July 2010; John is the youngest to hold the position.
Phillip Paulwell
The Honourable Phillip Paulwell (born 14 January 1962) is a Jamaican politician. Paulwell is the current Member of Parliament for the constituency of Kingston East and Port Royal and former Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining STEM in the People's National Party administration, which has formed the Government of Jamaica following the party's electoral victory in the December 2011 General Elections.
Robert Montague (Jamaican politician)
Robert Montague (born 1965) is a Jamaican politician with the Jamaica Labour Party. He comes from a political family; his father Asquith Nathaniel was a charter member of the JLP. He entered politics in 1990 as a councillor for Carron Hall, Saint Mary Parish. He later became the mayor of Port Maria. In 2012, Opposition Leader Andrew Holness named him a member of the Senate of Jamaica. He is now the Minister of National Security in the Andrew Holness-led government after winning the Jamaican general election, 2016.
Jamaica
Jamaica is a Commonwealth realm, with Queen Elizabeth II as its monarch and head of state. Her appointed representative in the country is the Governor-General of Jamaica, an office held by Sir Patrick Allen since 2009. Andrew Holness has served as the head of government and Prime Minister of Jamaica from March 2016. Jamaica is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with legislative power vested in the bicameral Parliament of Jamaica, consisting of an appointed Senate and a directly elected House of Representatives.
Peter Phillips (politician)
Peter Phillips, MP (born 28 December 1949) is a Jamaican politician who is the currently the president of the People's National Party and the Opposition Leader in Jamaica. He served as Minister of Finance and Planning of Jamaica from 2012 to 2016. He is Member of Parliament for East Central St Andrew.
Pearnel Charles
Pearnel Charles is a Jamaican politician with the Jamaica Labour Party. As of March 10, 2016, he holds the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives. He served as the Minister of Labour and Social Security in Jamaica between 2007 and 2012.
Foreign relations of Jamaica
Jamaica is an active member of the Commonwealth of Nations and the Non-Aligned Movement (G-77). Jamaica is a beneficiary of the Lome Conventions, through which the European Union (EU) grants trade preferences to selected states in Asia, the Caribbean, and the Pacific, and has played a leading role in the negotiations of the successor agreement in Fiji in 2000.
Jamaica Labour Party
Bustamante finally gave up the post of party leader in 1974, and Edward Seaga was elected his successor. The party lost the 1976 elections, but Seaga became Prime Minister after victory in 1980 when the party won by a landslide, capturing 51 of the then 60 parliamentary seats. In 1983 with the JLP achieving a spike in popularity, in part because of Seaga's support of the US-led military invasion of Grenada, Seaga called early elections and won all sixty seats, the majority by acclamation, mainly because the opposition PNP boycotted those elections. The JLP suffered defeat in the 1989 elections and went on to lose elections in 1993, 1997 and 2002, all under the continued leadership of Seaga.
Kenneth Baugh
Kenneth Lee O'Neil Baugh (born 24 February 1941) is a Jamaican politician, who is a former Opposition Leader,Foreign minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Jamaica. He serves in the Parliament of Jamaica, was a former general secretary and former chairman of the Jamaica Labour Party. He has also served as Minister of Health. After his party lost the 2011 general election he serves as Member of Parliament and opposition spokesman on health and quality of life.
Bruce Golding
Orette Bruce Golding (born 5 December 1947) is a former Jamaican politician who served as eighth Prime Minister of Jamaica from 11 September 2007 to 23 October 2011. He is a member of the Jamaica Labour Party which he led from 2005 to his resignation in 2011.
Bob Marley assassination attempt
Michael Manley, son of former Prime Minister Norman Manley, was elected Prime Minister of Jamaica in 1972. To address growing inequality in Jamaican society, Manley embarked on several democratic socialist reforms of the state, including land ownership reform, free education from primary to university, and nationalization of certain industries. Such policies had massive popularity among many people in Jamaica, but there were others who either saw the reforms as contrary to their businesses or as a high precursor to a Cuban-style communist government. Beginning in 1974, he was also opposed by the more conservative Edward Seaga of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). The JLP used the threat of socialism to build support among property owners and churchgoers, attracting more middle-class support. By 1976 the two politicians hired local gangsters to help them increase their hold on power.
Douglas Manley
Douglas Ralph Manley (born 30 May 1922 in London, England - died 26 July 2013 in St Andrew, Jamaica) was a Jamaican politician, Member of Parliament (MP), and Government Minister. He was the son of Jamaican premier Norman Washington Manley and Edna Manley and the older brother of former Jamaican Prime Minister, Michael Manley.
Monarchy of Jamaica
Jamaica's constitution is made up of a variety of statutes and conventions that are either British or Jamaican in origin, which gives Jamaica a similar parliamentary system of government to the other Commonwealth realms, wherein the role of the Queen and the Governor-General is both legal and practical. The Crown is regarded as a corporation, in which several parts share the authority of the whole, with the Queen as the person at the centre of the constitutional construct, meaning all powers of state are constitutionally reposed in the monarch, who is represented by the Governor-Generalappointed by the monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister of Jamaica. Most of the Queen's domestic duties are performed by this vice-regal representative, though she is briefed through regular communications from her Jamaican ministers, and holds audience with them whenever possible.
Danville Walker
The Honourable Danville Walker, O.J. is a Jamaican politician, formerly Director of Elections and Commissioner of Customs, as well as a one-time candidate for the Parliament of Jamaica.
2016 Jamaican general election
Preliminary results saw the opposition JLP gaining a total of twelve seats, taking a slender three-seat majority over the governing PNP in the House of Representatives. No other parties were elected. Among those elected were Robert Montague, Chairman of the JLP, and Juliet Holness. The voter turnout of 47.7% was the lowest since 1983, the year when the PNP boycotted the election. JLP leader Andrew Holness became Prime Minister-designate, regaining the position he lost to Simpson-Miller after the previous election in 2011.
Daryl Vaz
Daryl Wesley Phillip Vaz is a Jamaican politician. He was the Minister of Information and Telecommunications in Jamaica from March 2009 to January 2012. His party lost the election and Vaz is now opposition spokesman on Telecommunications. Vaz also serves as Minister Of Parliament for the constituency of Portland Parish Western Division.
Jamaica
There are about 20,000 Jamaicans who have Lebanese ancestry. Most were Christian immigrants who fled the Ottoman occupation in the early 19th century. Eventually, their descendants along with Syrian Jamaicans (Bob Marley), became very successful politicians and businessmen. Notable Jamaicans from this group include former Jamaican Prime Minister Edward Seaga, Jamaican politician and former Miss World Lisa Hanna, Jamaican politicians Edward Zacca and Shahine Robinson, and hotelier Abraham Elias Issa.
Michael Henry (Jamaican politician)
Michael Henry is a Jamaican politician. He has been the Minister of Transport and Works in Jamaica since 2007 and submitted his resignation as Minister of Transport and works on 29 November 2011. This resignation was tendered because of the controversy over the Jamaican Infrastructural Development Program (JDIP) of which he was overseeing.
Douglas Saunders
Ambassador the Honourable Douglas Saunders OJ CD is the Cabinet Secretary of the Jamaican Prime Minister's cabinet. Saunders is the third officer to take over the reins of this distinguished position as head of central government and has held this post from June 2008.
History of Jamaica
Jamaica received its independence on 6 August 1962. The new nation retained, however, its membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and adopted a Westminster-style parliamentary system. Bustamante, at the age of 78, became the new nation's first prime minister.
Independence of Jamaica
Michael Manley, the son of Norman Manley, who led what was largely the opposition party throughout the development of independent Jamaica, went on to become the fourth Prime Minister of Jamaica and maintained the People's National Party's status as one of two major political factions of the country.
People's National Party
The People's National Party (PNP) is a social-democratic political party in Jamaica founded in 1938 by Activist Osmond Theodore Fairclough. It holds 30 of 63 seats in the House of Representatives, as well as a majority of local government bodies with 151 of the 228 divisions. The party is democratic socialist by constitution.
Jamaica Labour Party
In May 2008, in an interview with Stephen Sackur of the BBC, Bruce Golding PM and Party Leader declared that any cabinet formed by him would exclude any MP known to be gay. In previous statements, Golding stated that he and his party strongly opposed public displays of homosexuality in Jamaica and that he felt that they should continue to be illegal in keeping with Jamaican societal norms. He justified the illegality of homosexual acts by referring to Christian values and the integrity of the family.
Syringa Marshall-Burnett
Syringa Marshall-Burnett CD, JP (11 May 1935 – 10 October 2014) was a Jamaican nurse, educator, and former politician with the People's National Party. A leader in the effort to create a university-based nursing education program, Marshall-Burnett would go on to serve as the head of the nursing education program at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies. She was the 8th President of the Senate of Jamaica, serving from 1995 through 2007.
Jamaica Labour Party
In 2005 Bruce Golding succeeded Seaga as leader of the party, and led it to victory in the 2007 elections. Golding resigned as head of the party and Prime Minister in October 2011 and was succeeded by current leader Andrew Holness. Soon after becoming leader, Holness called an election over a year before it was constitutionally due, and the party lost by a 2:1 margin to the PNP. Holness was not blamed for the defeat, and continued to lead the party as Opposition Leader
Donald Sangster
Sir Donald Burns Sangster (26 October 1911 – 11 April 1967) was a Jamaican solicitor and an old boy of the prestigious Munro College in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. politician and the second Prime Minister of Jamaica.
Patrick Allen (governor-general)
On 26 February 2009, he became Jamaica's sixth appointed Governor-General, and eighth overall (two people briefly held the position as acting Governor-General). Although Seventh-day Adventism is Jamaica's largest religion, Allen was the first Adventist Governor-General in Jamaica and the second in the region, after Sir James Carlisle, a former Governor-General of Antigua and Barbuda. There is a long history of appointing former educators to the position, with Governors-General Campbell, Glasspole, Cooke, and Hall all also having backgrounds as educators.
Maroon Council
On the Island of Jamaica, the Maroon Council is the executive body with administrative powers and obligations for the Maroon communities. Maroon Council members are appointed by the Colonel-in-Chief (Colonel), while the Colonel is officially elected by the community as the Head of Government. Each Maroon Community (Accompong, Nanny Town, Charles Town, Trelawny Town, and Scotts Hall) has its own independent Maroon Council with legislative authority.
Jamaica Labour Party
The party held a leadership election on 10 November 2013 where Holness was challenged by his deputy, Shadow Minister for Finance Audley Shaw. Holness defeated Shaw by a margin of 2,704 votes to Shaw's 2,012.
Bank of Jamaica
The Bank of Jamaica is run by a Board of Directors headed by the Governor of the Bank of Jamaica. The Board of Directors is composed of the Governor who is also Chairman of the Board, the Senior Deputy Governor, the Financial Secretary and six other directors. All are appointed by the Minister of Finance for five year terms. Don Wehby, chief operating officer at GraceKennedy Limited and a former senator, has called for the separation of the positions of governor and chairman.
LGBT rights in Jamaica
Carolyn Gomes is currently the executive director of the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVC), which works with Caribbean populations who are particularly vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and have social and financial barriers barring them from treatment and aid. Prior to assuming this role in January 2014, Gomes served as executive director of Jamaicans for Justice (JFJ), which she founded in Kingston in 1999 in order to fill the gap needed in Jamaica for a citizens' rights action group that works towards eradicating corruption in the judicial system and the public sphere as well as imbalances in the socio-economic system. She resigned from JFJ in 2013 after nationwide pushback on the sexual education leaflets the organisation produced for adolescents, due to their mentioning of anal sex. She speaks out on LGBT issues as they relate to her organisation and in part due to the fact that her sister is a homosexual woman.
Member states of ALBA
In June 2009, the Prime Minister of Jamaica said he would seek to address the future of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) given the effects of ALBA and Trinidad and Tobago's proposed political union with the OECS on the Caribbean Community as the two main elements he says will have a "destabilising effect" on the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) bloc.
History of Jamaica
In winning the election the People's National Party became the first party to win three consecutive terms. The opposition Jamaica Labour Party only had two more seats in Parliament after the election but their leader Edward Seaga held his seat for a ninth time in a row. The National Democratic Movement failed to win any seats despite a pre-election prediction that they would manage to win a seat.
Monarchy of Jamaica
Portia Simpson-Miller (Prime Minister, 2012–16) expressed her intention to make Jamaica a republic to coincide with the country's 50th anniversary of independence in August 2012, but did not follow through with the proposed change which would require the support of two-thirds of both houses in the Parliament of Jamaica to pass; Simpson-Miller's People's National Party had a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives but was one seat short in the Senate and would have needed the support of at least one senator from the Opposition Jamaican Labour Party in order to have the constitutional reform approved. The current leader of the JLP, Andrew Holness, who succeeded Simpson-Miller as prime minister in 2016, has announced that his government will amend the Constitution to make Jamaica a republic. Specifically, the government has pledged to introduce a constitutional amendment to "replace Her Majesty The Queen with a non-executive president as head of state".
Alexander Bustamante
Sir William Alexander Clarke Bustamante (24 February 1884 – 6 August 1977) was a Jamaican politician and labour leader, who, in 1962 became the first prime minister of Jamaica. He founded the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union following the 1938 labour riots, and the Jamaican Labour Party in 1943. Bustamante is honoured in Jamaica with the title National Hero of Jamaica in recognition of his achievements.
Monarchy of Jamaica
In accordance with convention, the monarch or Governor-General, to maintain the stability of government, must appoint as prime minister the individual most likely to maintain the support of the House of Representatives: usually the leader of the political party with a majority in that house, but also when no party or coalition holds a majority (referred to as a minority government situation), or other scenarios in which the Governor-General's judgement about the most suitable candidate for prime minister has to be brought into play. The Governor-General also appoints to the Cabinet the other ministers of the Crown, who are, in turn, accountable to the democratically elected House of Representatives, and through it, to the people. The Queen is informed by her viceroy of the acceptance of the resignation of a prime minister and the swearing-in of a new prime minister and other members of the ministry.
Shadow Cabinet of Jamaica
The current composition of the Shadow Cabinet of Jamaica was chosen by Leader of the Opposition (Jamaica), Dr. Peter Phillips on September 28, 2017 following the resignation of former Prime Minister of Jamaica and Leader of the Opposition (Jamaica) The Most honourable Portia Simpson-Miller.
History of Jamaica
The 2007 elections. had originally been scheduled for August 27, 2007 but were delayed to September 3 due to Hurricane Dean. The preliminary results indicated a slim victory for the opposition Jamaican Labour Party led by Bruce Golding, which grew by two seats from 31–29 to 33–27 after official recounts. The JLP defeated the People's National Party after 18 years of unbroken governance.
Shadow Cabinet of Jamaica
1) Dr. Peter Phillips – Leader of the Opposition (Jamaica)
Peter Murcott Bunting
Peter Murcott Bunting, MP (born 7 September 1960) was the fifth National Security Minister of Jamaica (Jan 2012 - Feb 2016) and the Member of Parliament representing the constituency of Central Manchester. Bunting was the General Secretary of the People's National Party, a position which he has held from January 2008 to January 2014.
Jamaica
Jamaica has traditionally had a two-party system, with power often alternating between the People's National Party (PNP) and Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). The party with current administrative and legislative power is the Jamaica Labour Party, with a one-seat parliamentary majority . There are also several minor parties who have yet to gain a seat in parliament; the largest of these is the National Democratic Movement (NDM).
Christopher Hills
From 1949 to 1967, Christopher and Norah Hills became influential forces in Jamaica's commerce, art, politics and culture.
Believing that Jamaica's strength lay in its agriculture, Christopher Hills co-founded the Jamaica Agriculture & Industrial Party (AIP) as an alternative to the two major political parties: Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and People's National Party (PNP), both of which he felt were too busy warring with each other to look out for the middle class and the country people who were the backbone of Jamaica's rural economy. Despite competing vigorously in the polls, the Hills couple were nevertheless close friends with JLP leader Sir Alexander Bustamante and Norman Manley, head of the PNP, who both served as Jamaican Prime Ministers. Norman Manley in fact had been best man at the Hills' wedding.
Everald Warmington
Clifford Everald Errol Warmington (born 1952) is a Jamaican politician with the Jamaica Labour Party. He has represented the South West Saint Catherine constituency in the Parliament of Jamaica since 2002.
1983 Jamaican general election
Early general elections were held in Jamaica on 15 December 1983. The election was boycotted by the main opposition party, the People's National Party, in protest at the refusal of the ruling Jamaican Labour Party to update the electoral roll. Whilst several minor parties participated in the election, most seats were unopposed: in the six seats where voting took place, voter turnout was about 55%, so this translated into a nationwide figure of 2.7%. It allowed the Labour Party to win all 60 seats in the House of Representatives, with their leader, Edward Seaga, continuing as Prime Minister.
Republicanism in Jamaica
The first Jamaican prime minister to make steps towards a republic was Michael Manley, whose People's National Party (PNP) came to power at the 1972 general election. His government established a commission into constitutional reform in 1975, and in July 1977, following a march to commemorate the Morant Bay rebellion, Manley announced that Jamaica would become a republic by 1981. However, his government was defeated at the 1980 general election by the more conservative Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), led by Edward Seaga. Seaga was also a republican, having expressed a preference for a "ceremonial presidency" in 1977. Despite this, no concrete moves towards a republic occurred during his premiership.
Generation 2000
Generation 2000 (G2K) is the young professional affiliate of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). It is a center-right political youth organization that was founded in 2000 by a group of young professionals that saw a need for professional politics in Jamaica . The organization was incorporated as a corporate non-profit body, with a board of Directors chaired by Dr. David Panton in the year 2000. The current President of Generation 2000 is Stephen Edwards, a Civil Engineer and former University Lecturer, who is a graduate of Boston College and Florida International University.
National Democratic Movement (Jamaica)
The NDM was formed in 1995 by Brascoe Lee and Bobby Marsh. Bruce Golding was invited to become the first President. Golding was the chairman of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) before he and others decided to split. In their 1997 manifesto, the party expresses the reasons why they broke from the JLP. Namely, they believed that after gaining independence from the United Kingdom in 1962, Jamaicans had suffered from the harsh combination of a stagnant economy and a rapidly growing population. They believed that the Jamaican people needed major reform in order to create a more equitable, stable society. The party made its presence known in the General Election in December 1997. Although the two main political parties of Jamaica received the majority of votes, the NDM received the most votes of all minor parties in each constituency.
Norman Grant (politician)
Norman Grant is a member of the Senate of Jamaica. He is also the president of the Jamaican Agricultural Society, a position which he held up until 2009 and again after 2012.
Prime Minister of Jamaica
The Prime Minister of Jamaica's official residence is Vale Royal. The property was constructed in 1694 by the planter Sir William Taylor, who was one of the richest men in Jamaica at the time. In 1928 the property was sold to the government and became the official residence of the British Colonial Secretary (then Sir Reginald Edward Stubbs). Vale Royal has subsequently become the official residence of the Prime Minister. Vale Royal is not open to the public.
Gladys Bustamante
Gladys Longbridge married Alexander Bustamante on 7 September 1962, shortly after Jamaica achieved independence from the United Kingdom in August 1962. She was 28 years younger than he. Bustamante remained the first Prime Minister of Jamaica until his resignation in 1967 due to ill health. He had been effectively incapacitated for the last two years of his premiership due to illness.
LGBT rights in Jamaica
Following Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson's pledge that "no one should be discriminated against because of their sexual orientation", LGBT rights campaigner Maurice Tomlinson filed a case against Jamaica at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in February 2012. He had fled the country because of death threats after news about his marriage with another man in Canada reached the local media. No date for the first hearing has been set.
Parliament of Jamaica
As Jamaica is a Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy, most of the government's ability to make and pass laws is dependent on Prime Ministers to command the confidence of the members of the House of Representatives. Though both Houses of Parliament hold Political significance, the House of Representatives of which the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition are both required to be members of holds a more Powerful and Prestigious role since it is the main source of Legislation.
Roads in Jamaica
On 2009-09-15 Jamaica's prime minister, Bruce Golding, announced to Parliament that Highway 2000 was to be renamed in honour of Usain Bolt. Those intentions were sidelined following a news paper article claiming Bolt had rejected the proposal.
Jamaica Labour Party
Hugh Shearer succeeded Sangster as First Deputy Leader and Prime Minister, defeating David Clement (DC) Tavares by two votes in a run-off by of the JLP parliamentarians. Tavares had come out on top in the first ballot, with Shearer and Robert Lightbourne being the other candidates. Under Shearer, the JLP lost power for the first time to the People's National Party and Michael Manley in 1972. Shearer served as Opposition Leader until 1974.
Andrew Holness
Holness is the youngest person to have become Prime Minister in Jamaica's history, as well as the country's ninth Prime Minister overall. He is also the first Prime Minister to have been born after Jamaica gained independence in 1962.
Geoffrey Campbell Gunter
Sir Geoffrey Campbell Gunter CBE (30 April 1879 - 1961) was the first Jamaican to have been governor of Jamaica in the modern era. Gunter was chief accountant of the Jamaica Government Railway, mayor of Kingston and president of the Jamaica Philatelic Society.
Jamaica United Front
The Jamaica United Front was a political party in Jamaica.
List of heads of state of Jamaica
This is a list of the heads of state of Jamaica, from the independence of Jamaica in 1962 to the present day.
Peter Phillips (politician)
Phillips first entered parliament as a senator when the People's National Party won the 1989 General Election by a landslide. He served as Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister during that period up until 1991. In 1991, he was then elevated to PNP General Secretary and Minister of Special Projects in the Office of the Prime Minister until 1994. In 1994, he was elected member of parliament of the constituency East Central St Andrew, which he is still representing in parliament since then. He was appointed Minister of Health from 1995 to 1997 where he modernized the health system in preparation for the 21st century. In 1998, he was appointed Minister of Transport and Works. He had great success in reorganizing the transport system in the Corporate Area and in the rehabilitation and improvement of the road network across the island. He was elected a vice president of the People's National Party in 1999 serving with Portia Simpson Miller. He was appointed Minister of National Security where he had significant success in reducing illegal narcotic flows through Jamaica and led a reform effort for Jamaica’s security forces. He twice unsuccessfully ran for President of the PNP in 2006 and 2008. After his party loss the 2007 election, Phillips helped his party deliver a 2-1 victory over the Jamaica Labour Party where Portia Simpson Miller selected him to be her Minister of Finance and Public Service. His tenure as Finance Minister saw Jamaica's economy being placed back on stability after the recession in 2008. The People's National Party lost the 2016 election and he was elected President of the PNP succeeding Portia Simpson Miller in 2017.
Panales Jamaica
In politics; President of Tarimoro in the 1940s. Bacilio Espino. Ismael Torres in the19 80s.
Kamina Johnson-Smith
Kamina Johnson-Smith is a Jamaican attorney and politician. A member of the Jamaica Labour Party, Johnson-Smith is currently the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade in the second Holness cabinet. Since 2012, Johnson-Smith is also a member of the Senate.
List of heads of state of Jamaica
From 1962 the head of state under the Jamaica Independence Act 1962 is the Queen of Jamaica, Elizabeth II, who is also the Monarch of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms. The Queen is represented in Jamaica by a Governor-General.
Jamaica Labour Party
Bustamante suffered a stroke in 1964 and largely withdrew from politics. However, he did not relinquish the title of party leader for another decade. Donald Sangster took over as acting prime minister after Bustamante's stroke. He was named First Deputy Leader in 1967, and led the party to victory as of the 21 February 1967 elections. Sangster suffered a brain hemorrhage and died about six weeks after the elections, while he was preparing for his budget presentation.
Bruce Golding
Golding, as leader of the Jamaica Labour Party, he became Prime Minister, following his party's slim victory in the 3 September 2007 general election and Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller's concession of defeat two days later. He was sworn in by the Governor-General of Jamaica on 11 September 2007. Golding was the nation's eighth prime minister since independence.
Syringa Marshall-Burnett
In 1992, Marshall-Burnett was appointed by the Prime Minister to fill a vacant seat in the Senate of Jamaica. She had attracted the Prime Minister's attention through her negotiations with the government on behalf of the Nurses Association of Jamaica. Marshall-Burnett moved on to become the Deputy President of the Senate, and in 1995 became its President. She served in the position until 2007. During her entire time in the Senate, the People's National Party was the majority party in the Jamaican Parliament. She died on 10 October 2014.
People's National Party
The PNP was founded in 1938 by, The Honourable Osmond Theodore Fairclough and is the oldest political party in Jamaica. It is one of the main two political parties in Jamaica and is considered more to the left than its main rival, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). Fairclough recruited the PNP's first leader Norman Manley. The PNP held a majority of seats in the parliament of colonial Jamaica from 1955 until 1962. Following independence in 1962 it held the majority of seats in the Jamaican Parliament from 1972 to 1980, from 1989 to 2007, and from 2011 to 2016.
Fenton Ferguson
Fenton Rudyard Ferguson is a Jamaican politician with the People's National Party. He has served as Jamaica's Minister of labour and social security under Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller since 2012. Outside politics he is a dental surgeon by profession. Dr.Fenton ferguson was moved from his post to labour and social security following a comment he made..Fenton Ferguson is the MP for St.Thomas his opponent in 2016 is Mr. Delano Seiveright.
His infamous quote was that the babies who have died as a result of the klebsiella bacteria outbreak in 2015 at Victoria Jubilee Hospital are “not babies in the real sense”during his tenure as Minister of Health when many premature babies died from that bacteria.(3)
Saint Andrew South Western
Saint Andrew South Western is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Representatives of the Jamaican Parliament. It elects one Member of Parliament MP by the first past the post system of election. The constituency was created in 1959. It is currently represented by the Prime Minister of Jamaica, Portia Simpson-Miller.
Christopher Tufton
Dr. Christopher Tufton is a Jamaican politician. A member of the governing Jamaica Labour Party, and Jamaica's current Minister of Health. He previously served as the Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce from July 2011 to December 2011, having previously served as the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries since 2007. Tufton served as the Member of Parliament for parliamentary constituency St. Elizabeth South Western from 2007 up until his defeat in 2011. In 2016 Tufton won the St. Catherine West Central seat against the PNP's Clinton Clarke and thus being returned to the Lower House.
Derick Milton Latibeaudiere
Hon. Derick Milton Latibeaudiere, OJ is the former governor of Jamaica's central bank, the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ). He took office as governor of the bank on 1 April 1996 and is the first member of the Bank' s staff to have been appointed to this position. Latibeaudiere also serves as Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Bank of Jamaica and is Jamaica's Alternate Governor to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He resigned as governor on 30 October 2009.
List of political parties in Jamaica
Jamaica has a two-party system, the major parties being the Jamaica Labour Party and the People's National Party. A large number of minor parties have cropped up and disintegrated in the past, with very few (if any) winning seats in Parliament. Over 46 political parties have been formed since independence in August 1962.
Politics of Jamaica
Politics in Jamaica takes place in the framework of a representative parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The 1962 Constitution of Jamaica established a parliamentary system whose political and legal traditions closely follow those of the United Kingdom. As the head of state, Queen Elizabeth II - on the advice of the Prime Minister of Jamaica - appoints a governor-general as her representative in Jamaica. The governor-general has a largely ceremonial role. Jamaica constitutes an independent Commonwealth realm.
2011 Jamaican general election
As a result, Portia Simpson-Miller assumed the role of Prime Minister for the second time in 5 years and Andrew Holness became one of the shortest-serving Prime Ministers in the history of Jamaica. Some analysts have suggested that Simpson-Miller intends to establish Jamaica as a republic, removing Queen Elizabeth II as head of state.
Leader of the Opposition (Jamaica)
The Leader of Her Majesty's Opposition in Jamaica is the leader of the largest political party which has not formed the current government. The Leader of the Opposition is seen as the alternative Prime Minister and leads the Shadow Cabinet of Jamaica. As of January 2012, Jamaica has had no Leader of the Opposition who has not also served as Prime Minister. P. J. Patterson and Donald Sangster are the only two of Jamaica's nine Prime Ministers who has not also served as Leader of the Opposition.
Independence of Jamaica
During the first half of the 20th century the most notable Black leader was Marcus Garvey, a labor leader and advocate of Black nationalism. Garvey, rather than advocating independence of Jamaica and other colonies, promoted the Back-to-Africa movement, which called for everyone of African descent to return to the homelands of their ancestors. Garvey, to no avail, pleaded with the colonial government to improve living conditions for indigenous peoples in the West Indies. Upon returning from international travels, he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League in 1914, which promoted civil rights for blacks in Jamaica and abroad. Garvey served a five-year prison sentence at the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary for defrauding investors in the league, following which he was deported to Jamaica in November 1927, after having his sentence commuted by President Calvin Coolidge. After returning to his place of birth, Garvey tried and failed to be elected into public office. The latter defeat is attributed to his followers lacking the proper voter qualifications. Despite these shortcomings, Marcus Garvey is regarded as a national hero in present-day Jamaica.
The Scout Association of Jamaica
The Governor General of Jamaica, Sir Patrick Allen is now the Chief Scout of Jamaica. Sir Patrick was invested by the Scout Association of Jamaica at a ceremony at King's House on September 4, 2009. Mr. Carlton Thompson is the International Commissioner of the Scout Association of Jamaica. The Boy Scout Association of Jamaica had three Island Commissioners:
Rastafari
Through reggae, Rasta musicians became increasingly important in Jamaica's political life during the 1970s. In his desire to move towards democratic socialism, Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley courted and obtained support from Marley and other reggae musicians, helping to bolster his popularity with the electorate. Manley described Rastas as a "beautiful and remarkable people", and carried a cane, the "rod of correction", which he claimed was a gift from Haile Selassie. Following Manley's example, Jamaican political groups increasingly employed Rasta language, symbols, and reggae references in their campaigns, while Rasta symbols became increasingly mainstream in Jamaican society. This helped to confer greater legitimacy on Rastafari, with reggae and Rasta imagery being increasingly presented as a core part of Jamaica's cultural heritage for the marketing purposes of the growing tourist industry.
People's National Party
On 26 February 2006, Portia Simpson-Miller was elected as Patterson's successor, becoming the first female president of the PNP, and became the Prime Minister of Jamaica. The PNP lost the August 2007 election to the JLP and its leader Bruce Golding.
Republicanism
Andrew Holness, the current Prime Minister of Jamaica, has announced that his government intends to begin the process of transitioning to a republic.
2007 Jamaican general election
General elections were held in Jamaica on 3 September 2007. They had originally been scheduled for 27 August 2007 but were delayed due to Hurricane Dean. The preliminary results indicated a slim victory for the opposition Jamaican Labour Party led by Bruce Golding, which grew by two seats from 31-29 to 33-27 after official recounts. The JLP defeated the People's National Party after eighteen years of unbroken governance.
History of Jamaica
The 2002 election. was a victory for the People's National Party, but their number of seats fell from 50 to 34 (out of 60 total). PNP leader P. J. Patterson retained his position as Prime Minister, becoming the first political leader to win three successive elections. Patterson stepped down on 26 February 2006, and was replaced by Portia Simpson-Miller, Jamaica's first female Prime Minister.
West Indies Federation
WIFLP leader Sir Grantley Adams of Barbados became Prime Minister. The selection of Adams as the Prime Minister was indicative of the problems the Federation would face. The expected leader of the WIFLP was Norman Manley, Premier of Jamaica, and the next logical choice was Dr. Eric Williams, Premier of Trinidad and Tobago. However, neither had contested the Federal elections, preferring to remain in control of their respective island power bases. This suggested that the leaders of the two most important provinces did not see the Federation as viable. Similarly, Alexander Bustamante, the Jamaican founder of the DLP, also declined to contest the Federal election, leaving the party leadership to the Trinidadian Ashford Sinanan. The absence of the leading Jamaican politicians from any role at the federal level was to undermine the Federation's unity.
James Robertson (Jamaican politician)
Dr. James Robertson (born 9 June 1966) is a Jamaican politician. He served as the Minister of Mining and Energy in Jamaica between March 2009 and May 2011.
Marcus Garvey People's Political Party
The Marcus Garvey People's Political Party (formerly known as the Marcus Garvey People's Progressive Party) is a political party in Jamaica formed by the merger of two minor parties. The ideology associated with the party is socialist, republican and Pan-Africanist. The party is named after Jamaican National Hero, Marcus Garvey. On election ballots, the party campaign as MG/PPP or simply PPP.
Neville Eden Gallimore
Neville Eden Gallimore CD is a Jamaican politician who served as a member of the Parliament of Jamaica for South West St. Ann for over 30 years. He is a member of the Jamaica Labour Party and a Seventh-day Adventist. While in office, he was known for his slogan "God first, Jamaica second and my party third."
Jamaica College
The institution is widely known in Jamaica for both its academic and sports achievements, and has had the privilege of producing many influential members of Jamaican society, notably former Prime Ministers of Jamaica, Michael Manley and Bruce Golding, and former Chief Minister and Premier of Jamaica, Norman Washington Manley, who is also the father of Michael Manley and the founder of the People's National Party.
Edward Seaga
On 20 January 2005, Edward Seaga retired as Leader of the Jamaica Labour Party, a position which he held for 30 years. He retired as a Member of Parliament after serving for 43 years in the House of Representatives, in addition to two years in the Senate. He has the longest period of continuous service of any elected representative in the Caribbean region.
Politics of Jamaica
The 1962 Constitution established a parliamentary system based on the United Kingdom model. As head 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 of Jamaica; led by the Prime Minister, currently Andrew Holness.
Richard Hart (Jamaican politician)
Richard Hart (13 August 1917 – 21 December 2013) was a Jamaican historian, solicitor and politician. He was a founding member of the People's National Party (PNP) and one of the pioneers of Marxism in Jamaica. He played an important role in Jamaican politics in the years leading up to Independence in 1962. He subsequently was based in Guyana for two years, before relocating to London in 1965, working as a solicitor and co-founding the campaigning organisation Caribbean Labour Solidarity. He went on to serve as attorney-general in Grenada under the People's Revolutionary Government in 1983. He spent the latter years of his life in the UK, where he died in Bristol.