The difference between the Windies and us here of course is that our governments never shrink from taking unpopular decisions. Firstly because they don't really think it will affect their electoral chances (!) and secondly, because they personally aren't going to be drinking the actual poison, and thirdly, once the poison's gone, they get to keep the chalice ...
Ayo
I invite you to follow me on Twitter @naijama
On 30 Dec 2011, at 15:30, Cornelius Hamelberg <corneliushamelberg@gmail.com> wrote:
> Just now Jamaica must be making a lot of incumbent African
> governments a little nervous, that in this functioning democracy
> called Jahmaica, every now and then the opposition wins an election -
> no king of kings with ambitions to be the United States of Africa's
> king of Kings & president for ever, dispensing with the need to hold
> democratic elections.
>
> No Sir, our radical Jamaica Marcus Garvey land is another scene, has
> always been change in the air.
>
> https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sa=X&ei=Usn9TuLiDuX54QSDocWdAw&ved=0CB0QvwUoAQ&q=Opposition+wins+elections+in+Jamaica&spell=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1280&bih=861
>
> https://www.google.com/search?q=Jamaica&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:sv-SE:official&client=firefox-a&hl=en#q=Jamaica&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:sv-SE:official&prmd=imvnsu&source=lnms&tbm=nws&ei=i8f9TtqhBqX04QTz68GNCA&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=5&ved=0CBUQ_AUoBA&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=158e23d9027d2f36&biw=1280&bih=861
>
>
> http://www.world-newspapers.com/jamaica.html
>
> It's Portia! - PNP delivers crushing 41-22 seat defeat to JLP
>
> BY VERNON DAVIDSON Executive editor — publications ?
> davidsonv@jamaicaobserver.com
>
> Friday, December 30, 2011
>
> Print this page Email A Friend!
>
> THE People's National Party (PNP) sent the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP)
> back into Opposition after scoring a crushing 41-22-seat victory in
> yesterday's 16th general election that pollsters and analysts had said
> was mostly too close to call.
>
> A sober but triumphant Simpson Miller told jubilant supporters at PNP
> headquarters last night that she was thankful to the Jamaican people
> and Prime Minister Andrew Holness who, she said, called and
> congratulated her earlier. "He was very gracious."
>
> [Hide Description] PNP President Portia Simpson Miller addressing
> jubilant supporters last night at PNP HQ after the party's election
> victory. She's flanked by Dr Peter Phillips (right) campaign director
> and Robert Pickersgill, party chairman. At far left is Delano Franklyn
> campaign spokesman.
> [Restore Description]
> 1/5
>
> She urged comrades to greet supporters of the losing Jamaica Labour
> Party (JLP) with love in an obvious extension of the olive branch
> after what was a vigorous and often bitter campaign.
>
> "We will be working to move this country forward to achieve growth and
> development and for job creation," she said. "As we move to balance
> the books, we will be moving to balance people's lives."
>
> Simpson Miller also asked public servants to ensure the protection of
> Government property, and added: "Today, the Jamaica people assisted us
> to rescue Jamaica and to restore the power. You will hear from us
> soon, as we move to put our team in place to take charge of the
> Government."
>
> The dramatic swing to the PNP, which emerged as early as 8:00 last
> night, returns the 66-year-old Simpson Miller to the prime minister's
> chair, four years after she failed in her first bid to get her own
> mandate from the electorate after taking over from P J Patterson, who
> retired in March 2006.
>
> It also resulted in Holness, the 39-year-old JLP leader, serving as
> prime minister for a mere two months, having been sworn in on October
> 23 after Bruce Golding stepped down.
>
> But probably the hottest sting in the defeat for the JLP is that it
> made the party the first one-term Government since Independence.
>
> The election was marked by long waits at polling stations, glitches in
> the operation of the electronic voter identification system, and a low
> voter turnout.
>
> But overall voting went smoothly islandwide.
>
> Last night, Holness conceded defeat, telling journalists at JLP
> headquarters in Kingston that "the people have spoken and we are
> humble servants and we listen".
>
> Holness had campaigned on a platform of continuity and fiscal
> prudence, while Simpson Miller and the PNP had, on the hustings,
> highlighted unemployment and the harsh economic conditions as failings
> of the Government.
>
> Some of the heavyweights who lost their seats yesterday included:
> Agriculture Minister Robert Montague; Energy Minister Clive Mullings;
> junior industry and commerce minister Michael Stern; Sharon Hay-
> Webster, who crossed the floor in a dramatic switch from the PNP.
> National Security Minister Dwight Nelson also failed in his bid to win
> a seat.
>
> Statistics from the Electoral Office of Jamaica confirmed that 48 per
> cent of the electorate turned out to vote at 6,629 polling stations in
> 2,200 locations islandwide in what electoral officials, observers and
> police said was possibly the most peaceful election in local political
> history.
>
> Director of Elections Orette Fisher, who was presiding for the first
> time at the helm of a Jamaican election, admitted there were some of
> the usual election day headaches but for the most part polling went
> smoothly and without incident.
>
> "I can say at this time that we are very satisfied that the process
> was efficiently executed and the elections were free and fair and free
> of fear," Fisher told journalists after his office had announced the
> preliminary results.
>
> Most of the glitches centred around the operation of the Electronic
> Voter Identification and Ballot Issuing System (EVIBIS) which was
> rolled out in Eastern St Catherine, West Central St Andrew, South East
> St Andrew, Eastern St Andrew, Central Kingston, and Western St Andrew,
> with partial implementation in North West St Andrew and North Central
> St Andrew.
>
> The EVIBIS identifies the elector and issues his/her ballot
> electronically. The machines do not provide for voting electronically,
> but instead match the voter to fingerprints in a database. Persons
> whom the system rejected for whatever reason were quizzed by the
> presiding officer to ascertain whether they were who they claimed to
> be.
>
> Some voters and the PNP complained that voting in EVIBIS centres was
> agonisingly slow, causing long lines and frustrating electors.
>
> Fisher blamed the problems on a combination of "nervousness on the
> part of some election staff and impatience of some voters", but said
> the problems were sorted out and voting continued.
>
> "We have had reports from some supervisors who say things are going
> smoothly while there are others who say the machines are slow. But
> slow is relative because some persons just don't want to wait," he
> told the Observer.
>
> The day's minuses included reported shooting incidents in the Mountain
> View Avenue area and Southborough in Portmore, St Catherine, as well
> as reports that a man died in Portland after discovering that he had
> erroneously put his 'X' beside the wrong candidate.
>
> But the election earned the thumbs up from international and local
> observers who certified it as largely incident-free.
>
> Ambassador Lisa Shoman, the OAS chief of mission observing the
> election, said that preliminary reports suggested that polling went
> well.
>
> According to Shoman, the 12 teams monitoring election activities
> across the island had not observed anything untoward thus far.
>
> "Everything is going according to schedule and according to plan so
> far," she said at mid-morning.
>
> She said the most her team observed were long lines which were based
> on how the crowd was being handled by election workers.
>
> Consistent with electoral history, some changes could come in the
> final count or after any possible challenge from losing candidates who
> may petition for a magisterial recount.
>
> — With additional reporting by Desmond Allen and Horace Helps
>
> Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/It-s-Portia----PNP-delivers-crushing-41-22-seat-defeat-to-JLP#ixzz1i1ovVSbK
>
>
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
> For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
> For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
> To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
> unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
No comments:
Post a Comment