Prime Minister Andrew Holness became the first political leader to win three consecutive terms in office as the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) won Monday’s general elections albeit with a significantly reduced margin.
In the 2020 general election, the JLP had won 49 out of the 63 seats at stake in the Parliament, but according to the preliminary figures released by the Electoral Office of Jamaica, the party won 34 seats as against 29 for the main opposition People’s National Party (PNP).
Holness won his St Andrew West Central seat after coming from under a threat from the PNP’s Paul Buchanan. Holness polled 7054 votes as against 4,953 for Buchanan, who during the campaign had vowed to win the seat Holness held since 1997.
Holness, 53, told supporters that he was pleased they had decided to stand up behind the JLP, adding “today, Jamaica won this election.
“The majority of the voters decided to choose Jamaica…this was not a victory by default,” he said, adding “it was not an easy victory, this was a fight, but we did not descend into the gutter to fight.
“We did not tear down Jamaica, we ran a disciplined, focus and well organised campaign and we prove that we can run a decent campaign and win…this is how Jamaica wins,” Holness said, adding “our democracy by this election is proven to be in tact”
Holness’s victory came even as the Financial Investigations Division (FID) denounced what it described as a fabricated story circulating on social media on Wednesday, which falsely claims that it has ruled that Prime Minister Holness be charged for breaches of the Proceeds of Crime Act and other corruption-related offences.
But in a statement, the FID described the claims as “false, baseless, and malicious,” adding that the department “has issued no such ruling, announcement, or statement.”
It said as a law enforcement body within the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, it operates strictly within the laws of Jamaica.
“All investigations are conducted in keeping with established protocols, and any public communication regarding charges or proceedings is made formally and through legitimate channels,” the FID said.
Holness told the celebrating supporters that ‘we went through the toughest battle in the Caribbean…and we will be here for a third term,” he said, adding no weapon formed against him will be victorious.
“After all the attacks, I am still solid as a rock,” Holness said adding that the JLP in its third term must guard against arrogance” having a keener ear to listen to the people focusing on their needs.
“This government in our third term must be laser focus in ensuring that there must be prosperity for all Jamaicans,” he said, noting that the term prosperity means many thing to all people, ranging from peace in the country to better education opportunities, housing and improved road networks.
But he said that during the third term, the party will have to undergo changes, in a bid to attract new talent adding “so we will not be laying back comfortably in office” hinting at a fourth consecutive term in government.
For his part, PNP leader Mark Golding, who easily defeated the JLP’s Carlton Allen to win the St Andrew Southern seat, the results were a bitter sweet pill as the 59 year-old Golding improved significantly on the PNP’s 14 seats the party had won in the 2020 general election.
In conceding defeat, Golding said that he was pleased with that the PNP had returned to the position of being a force in Jamaican politics.
“First of all it is my duty as a believer of democracy to acknowledge the defeat and the results and congratulate our opponents for their victory tonight,” Golding said, adding “Jamaica’s democracy is important and we must cherish it.
“Sometimes it brings big disappointments…but it is very important that democracy ahead of all of those feelings and I accept the results of the elections….”
The preliminary figures show that 39.3 per cent of the more than two million eligible voters cast ballots on Monday, just over one per cent more when Jamaicans voted during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. (CMC)
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