Jamaica

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Island in the Caribbean Sea, south of Cuba and west of Haiti.

Government
The 1962 constitution follows closely the unwritten British model, with a resident constitutional head of state, the governor general, representing the British monarch and appointing a prime minister and cabinet, collectively responsible to the legislature. This consists of two chambers, an appointed 21-member senate and a 60-member elected house of representatives. Normally, 13 of the senators are appointed on the advice of the prime minister and 8 on the advice of the leader of the opposition. Members of the house are elected by universal suffrage for a five-year term, but the house is subject to dissolution within that period.

History
Before the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1494, the island was inhabited by Arawak Indians. From 1509 to 1655 it was a Spanish colony, and after this was in British hands until 1959, when it was granted internal self-government, achieving full independence within the Commonwealth in 1962.

After independence
The two leading political figures in the early days of independence were Alexander Bustamante, leader of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), and Norman Manley, leader of the People's National Party (PNP). The JLP won the 1962 and 1967 elections, led by Bustamante's successor, Hugh Shearer, but the PNP, under Norman Manley's son Michael, was successful in 1972. He advocated social reform and economic independence from the industrialized world. Despite high unemployment, Manley was returned to power in 1976 with an increased majority, but by 1980 the economy had deteriorated, and, rejecting the conditions attached to a loan from the International Monetary Fund, Manley sought support for his policies of economic self-reliance.

Political violence
The 1980 general election campaign was extremely violent, despite calls by Manley and the leader of the JLP, Edward Seaga, for moderation. The outcome was a decisive victory for the JLP, with 51 of the 60 seats in the house of representatives. Seaga thus received a mandate for a return to a renewal of links with the USA and an emphasis on free enterprise. He severed diplomatic links with Cuba in 1981. In 1983 Seaga called an early, snap election, with the opposition claiming they had been given insufficient time to nominate their candidates. The JLP won all 60 seats. There were violent demonstrations when the new parliament was inaugurated, and the PNP said it would continue its opposition outside the parliamentary arena. In the 1989 elections Manley and the PNP won a landslide victory. The new prime minister pledged to pursue moderate economic policies and improve relations with the USA. In 1992 Manley resigned the premiership on the grounds of ill health. Percival Patterson, the former finance minister, was chosen as Manley's successor and in a snap general election, in 1993, he increased his party's majority, winning 52 of the 60 seats in the house of representatives. A new centrist party, the National Democratic Movement, was formed in 1995.

The country's centre-left People's National Party, led by the prime minister, Percival Patterson, won an unprecedented third straight term, routing the conservative Jamaica Labour Party in a general election held in December 1997. He followed this with a fourth term in the general elections of October 2002.

In 2006, Patterson stepped down as prime minister. His local government minister Portia Simpson Miller was elected head of the People's National Party, and succeeded Patterson, becoming Jamaica's first female prime minister.

The distinctive pattern in the hoist is designed to look like woven cloth. Effective date: 7 June 1995. >>