Jamaican general election, 1983

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Early general elections were held in Jamaica on 15 December 1983. [1] 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. [2] 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%. [1] [3] It allowed the Labour Party to win all 60 seats in the House of Representatives, with their leader, Edward Seaga, continuing as Prime Minister.

Jamaica Country in the Caribbean

Jamaica is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning 10,990 square kilometres (4,240 sq mi) in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the fourth-largest island country in the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about 145 kilometres (90 mi) south of Cuba, and 191 kilometres (119 mi) west of Hispaniola.

An election boycott is the boycotting of an election by a group of voters, each of whom abstains from voting.

Peoples National Party Jamaican political 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 the 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.

Contents

Background

The Labour Party had won the 1980 general elections in convincing style, taking 51 of the 60 seats in the House of Representatives. At the time the party promised to update the electoral roll, but had failed to do so by the 1983 elections. [2] On 25 November 1983 Seaga called early elections, two years before they were due. [3] Seaga claimed that the move was due to People's National Party leader Michael Manley calling for him to resign from his post of Finance Minister (which he held in addition to being Prime Minister), and that the early elections would be a public vote of confidence in his austerity plans. [3]

Michael Manley Jamaican politician

Michael Norman Manley ON OCC was a Jamaican politician who served as the fourth Prime Minister of Jamaica from 1972 to 1980 and from 1989 to 1992. Coming from a prosperous background, Manley was a democratic socialist. According to opinion polls, he remains one of Jamaica's most popular prime ministers.

Whilst the People's National Party boycotted the elections and called for others to do so as well, three minor parties and several independents contested the elections. Two of the parties, the Christian Conscience Movement and the Jamaica United Front, had never previously contested an election. The other, the Republican Party, had run in the 1955 and 1967 elections, but had never received more than 108 votes. [4] Between them, opposition and independent candidates only contested six constituencies, resulting in Labour Party candidates winning 54 seats unopposed. Whilst turnout in the contested seats was estimated to be around 55%, [3] the overall total was just 2.7%, by far the lowest in the country's history and the only time it has been below 50%. [1]

The Christian Conscience Movement was a political party in Jamaica. It first contested national elections in 1983. The elections that year saw a mass boycott as the People's National Party protested against the government. The CCM received only 704 votes, which amounted to 2.7% of the total, and failed to win a seat. It did not contest any further elections.

The Jamaica United Front was a political party in Jamaica.

The Republican Party was a political party in Jamaica. It first contested national elections in 1955, but received only 108 votes and failed to win a seat. It did not take part in elections in 1959 or 1962, but returned for the 1967 elections, in which it received only 45 votes. After failing to participate in the 1972, 1976 and 1980 elections it contested the 1983 elections, but received only 257 votes, again failing to win a seat. It did not contest any further elections.

Results

PartyVotes%Seats+/-
Jamaica Labour Party 23,36389.760+7
Christian Conscience Movement 7042.70New
Republican Party 2571.00New
Jamaica United Front 1440.60New
People's National Party (boycotted)00.00-7
Independents1,5876.10New
Invalid/blank votes488–––
Total26,543100600
Source: Nohlen

Aftermath

The Labour Party government was sworn in on 19 December, [3] and remained in power until the 1989 elections, in which the People's National Party won 45 of the 60 seats. [5]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Nohlen, D (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p430 ISBN   978-0-19-928357-6
  2. 1 2 Nohlen, p425
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Jamaica Inter-Parliamentary Union
  4. ↑ Nohlen, pp433-434
  5. ↑ Nohlen, p435
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