Jamaica Labour Party to take power after election upset

| 26/02/2016 | 13 Comments
Cayman News Service

Leader of the JLP Andrew Holness, Jamaica’s new Prime Minister, and his wife Juliet, cast their ballots in the general election (Photo courtesy The Gleaner)

(CNS): Andrew Holness will be retaking the reins of power in the neighbouring country of Jamaica after his party claimed victory following Thursday’s general election and in light of the early results. In a close race, the Jamaica Labour Party took 33 of the 63 seats contested, booting Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and her People’s National Party from office, despite polls that had predicted another victory for the country’s first female elected leader. Miller did, however, retain her own seat in South West St Andrew.

Holness, who held the post of PM for a short time in 2011, said on social media late Thursday evening, “The cost of victory is accountability and the responsiveness of the government we will form.”

According to the Jamaican government’s information service, in a speech at the JLP headquarters, he described the victory as a long and arduous journey, but not the end of a journey.

“We are going to change the way government works. We have been given stewardship of the country and we stand to be accountable. We will keep the commitments we have made to the people,” he said.

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Comments (13)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Mi na wear green or red again mi a wear beige!

  2. Anonymous says:

    Jamaican’s largest source of remittance income from the US is a lottery scam that preys on the elderly.

    • Anonymous says:

      29/02/2016 at 8:11 am
      So what is your point? This may be correct but the Government is committed to stop this incident from occurring. We now have a new Government in charge; let us give them a fair chance.

    • Bernie Madoff Wid Me Money says:

      I don’t know about you but many of us have been previously approached by some fairly high ranking Caymanian Civil Servants to participate in the Jamaican Ponzi schemes of a similar nature.

  3. Anonymous says:

    Shower man dem back in power. Brap, brap, brap

    • Anonymous says:

      Is that how you see a valid and genuine exercise in democracy? TIME FOR A CHANGE!!

    • Shhhhh. says:

      Maybe now Jamaica can restart the rebuilding of the economy which Edward Seaga was never allowed to complete because the Ja people had no stomach for austerity Seaga style. The “Turn-back Socialists” were never ever really equipped to manage a capitalist economic recovery required after the Michael Manley disaster of the seventies.

      • Anonymous says:

        Aren’t the Seagas and Manleys still in charge, via controlling the parties, but they have some black faces now because it was over-due? And which party offers counsel to parties here?

  4. Anonymous says:

    Congratulations to Mr Holness and his team want to wish them all the best Jamaica and Jamaicans needs leadership in every respect lots of issues to deal with good luck

  5. Anonymous says:

    Ja mon.

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