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
--
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