Jamaican general election, 2011

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Jamaican general election, 2011
Flag of Jamaica.svg
←  2007 29 December 2011 (2011-12-29) 2016  →
All 63 seats in the Jamaica House of Representatives
32 seats needed for a majority

  First party Second party
  Portia Miller Shoot.Jpeg Andrew Holness cropped.jpg
Leader Portia Simpson-Miller Andrew Holness
Party PNP JLP
Leader since 26 February 2006 23 October 2011
Leader's seat Saint Andrew South Western Saint Andrew West Central
Last election 28 seats, 49.6%32 seats, 50.3%
Seats before 28 32
Seats won42 21
Seat changeIncrease2.svg14Decrease2.svg11
Popular vote463,232 405,234
Percentage53.3% 46.6%
SwingIncrease2.svg3.7%Decrease2.svg3.7%

Jamaica general election 2011 - Results by Constituency.svg

Map of result by constituency. Colours denote the winning party, shades indicate the plurality of votes in each constituency. All constituencies are numbered, with labels at the bottom.
Prime Minister before election

Andrew Holness
JLP

Subsequent Prime Minister

Portia Simpson-Miller
PNP

The 2011 Jamaican general election was held on 29 December 2011 in Jamaica. The election was contested mainly between the nation's two major political parties, the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), led by Andrew Holness, and the Portia Simpson-Miller-led opposition People's National Party (PNP). The result was a landslide victory for the PNP which won 42 of the 63 seats, a two-thirds majority. [1]

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.

The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is one of the two major political parties in Jamaica, the other being the People's National Party (PNP). While its name might suggest that it is a social democratic party, the JLP is actually a conservative party. However, it has longstanding ties to the Jamaican labour movement.

Andrew Holness Jamaican politician

Andrew Michael Holness, ON, MP is a Jamaican politician who has been the Prime Minister of Jamaica since 3 March 2016, following the 25 February 2016 general election. Holness previously served as Prime Minister from October 2011 to January 5, 2012. He succeeded Bruce Golding as Prime Minister, and decided to go to the polls in the 29 December 2011 general election in an attempt to get his own mandate from the Jamaican electorate. He failed in that bid, however, losing badly to the People's National Party led by Portia Simpson-Miller, with the PNP gaining 42 seats to the Jamaica Labour Party's 21. Following that defeat, Holness served as Leader of the Opposition from January 2012 to March 2016, when he once again assumed the position of Prime Minister.

Contents

Background

Since the last election in 2007, the number of seats was increased from 60 (an even number) to 63 (an odd number). The close results of the 2007 general election spurred the change as the Electoral Commission concluded that a tie would not be resolved. [2]

Opinion polls

Opinion polls indicated a slim lead for the opposition PNP six days before the election. [3] [4] The win by the PNP shocked even its leaders, such as Peter Phillips who said that "the results certainly exceeded our most optimistic scenarios". [5] [6] Despite the intentions of the opinion polls to give a fair idea of the directions of the election results, reports from the Electoral Office of Jamaica indicates that only just over 50 per cent of the entire voting population voted on Election Day 2011. This low voter turnout may have thrown off the prediction of opinion polls to some extent.

Results

The People's National Party (PNP) secured 42 seats to 21 for the Jamaica Labour Party, in a result described as a landslide victory. [5] None of the minor parties won seats in the new Parliament. As a result the PNP ended four years of rule for the Labour Party. [5] Several Labour Party cabinet ministers lost their seats including National Security Minister Dwight Nelson and Energy Minister Clive Mullings. [5]

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.

A landslide victory is an electoral victory in a political system, when one candidate or party receives an overwhelming supermajority of the votes or seats in the elected body, thus utterly eliminating the opponents. The winning party has reached more voters than usual, and a landslide victory is often seen in hindsight as a turning point in people's views on political matters.

As a result, Portia Simpson-Miller assumed the role of Prime Minister for the second time in 5 years and Andrew Holness became one of the shortest-serving Prime Ministers in the history of Jamaica. [7] Some analysts have suggested that Simpson-Miller intends to establish Jamaica as a republic, removing Queen Elizabeth II as head of state. [8]

Portia Simpson-Miller politician

Portia Lucretia Simpson-Miller,, is a Jamaican politician. She served as Prime Minister of Jamaica from March 2006 to September 2007 and again from 5 January 2012 to 3 March 2016. She was the leader of the People's National Party from 2006 to 2017 and the Leader of the Opposition twice, from 2007 to 2012 and from 2016 to 2017.

Prime Minister of Jamaica Jamaicas head of government

The Prime Minister of Jamaica is Jamaica's head of government, currently Andrew Holness. Holness, as leader of the governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), was sworn in as Prime Minister on 3 March 2016, succeeding People's National Party (PNP) leader Portia Simpson-Miller. This was a result of the JLP's victory in Jamaica's 25 February 2016 general election.

Polling was reported to have proceeded fairly smoothly, despite glitches with fingerprint scanners at some polling stations, and without the violence that has marred previous elections. [9] The Organization of American States sent an observation mission to oversee the elections and they reported that they had not witnessed "any disturbances or any issues that would cause us any serious concern". [9]

Organization of American States international organization

The Organization of American States, or the OAS or OEA, is a continental organization that was founded on 30 April 1948, for the purposes of regional solidarity and cooperation among its member states. Headquartered in the United States capital Washington, D.C., the OAS's members are the 35 independent states of the Americas.

e  •  d  Summary of the 29 December 2011 Jamaican House of Representatives election results
PartiesVotes%+/–Seats+/–
People's National Party 464.06452.96+3.742+14
Jamaica Labour Party 405,92046.32 –3.721–11
Marcus Garvey People's Progressive Party 4200.050±0
National Democratic Movement 2630.030±0
Independents 2280.030±0
Jamaica Alliance Movement 570.010±0
Invalid/blank votes––––
Total (turnout 53.17%)876,310100 63+3
Source: Electoral Commission of Jamaica

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References

  1. ↑ http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20111230/lead/lead1.html
  2. ↑ An odd number of votes ensures that a decision is made, no tie is possible.
  3. ↑ "PNP comeback". Jamaica Gleaner. 23 December 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  4. ↑ Saturday 31 December 2011 (21 December 2011). "News | Investigative | Current Affair | CVM Television". News.cvmtv.com. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Dominating victory in Jamaica elections even surprises winning opposition side". Washington Post. 30 December 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  6. ↑ Jamaica Election Results
  7. ↑ Helps, Horace. "Bad economy puts Jamaica opposition back in power". Reuters. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  8. ↑ "Jamaica plans to become a republic". Sky News Australia. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
  9. 1 2 "Jamaica People's National Party secures big poll win". BBC News. 30 December 2011. Retrieved 31 December 2011.
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