Politics of Jamaica

From Jamaica Wiki

Since Jamaican independence in 1962 a parliamentary system based on the United Kingdom model was established. Queen Elizabeth II appoints a governor general. His role is mainly ceremonial. The executive power is in the hands of the government, led by the Prime Minister.

Legislative power is in the hands of the government and parliament. Parliament is composed of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The Senate consists of twenty one Senators – thirteen are nominated on the advice of the prime minister and eight on the advice of the leader of the opposition. The role of the Senate is to submit bills and to review legislation submitted by the House. The parliament selects the prime minister and the cabinet.

The Judicial branch is based on the English model as well. The highest appeal court in Jamaica is The Court of Appeal.

Jamaican political system is stable in general. However the economic problems have great impact on the political conditions on the country. Some of the issues that have greater impact over the Jamaican politics are the high and rising levels of unemployment, the high crime levels and the migration.

Some of the crime organizations in Jamaica were linked to its political structures. Parts of Kingston as well as parts of other towns were controlled by gang leaders, called "dons". These leaders had links to the leaders of the political parties. After the 1980s and 1990s these links were meant to be broken due to the strict measures taken to stop the transition of cocaine from South America to North America as well as the marijuana export. However many "dons" remained linked to the main political parties and are protected by the state authorities.

There are two main political parties in Jamaica. Both have long history. These are the Jamaica Labor Party (JLP) and the People's National Party (PNP). Another party created in 1995 is the National Democratic Movement (NDM). While the first two have links with the two main trade unions, the NDM is not linked to any particular trade union. Other parties in Jamaica are Jamaica Alliance Movement, Imperial Ethiopian World Federation Incorporation Party and the Jerusalem Bread Foundation.

The Prime Minister Michael Manley was replaced by Percival James Patterson in 1992. Patterson and the People's National Party won the elections in elections in 1993, 1997 and 2002.

The leader of the Jamaica Labor Party, Edward Seaga left his position as head of the party in 2005. Bruce Golding took his place. Bruce Golding was a government minister since the 80s. He has left JLP to found the National Democratic Movement but later returned to the Jamaica Labor Party.

In March, 2006, Portia Simpson-Miller was appointed Jamaica's seventh Prime Minister. She is the first woman in the country's history to hold the position of Prime Minister of Jamaica.

On September 11th 2007 Bruce Golding assumed office as Prime Minister of Jamaica.

Since 1993 elections the Jamaican Government, political parties, and Electoral Advisory Committee aimed their efforts into an electoral reform. However their efforts were unsuccessful.