Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness secured a third term

Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness, 53, won a rare third term after his Labour Party’s victory in the elections. Andrew Holness has been governing Jamaica since 2016.

• After a tough contest on an island plagued by corruption, inequality, and economic concerns, Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness secured a third term. Holness’s Jamaica Labour Party won at least 34 seats, while Mark Golding’s opposition People’s National Party secured at least 29 seats.
• The general elections also included the Jamaica Progressive Party, the United Independents’ Congress, and nine independent candidates contesting in different constituencies. The official voter turnout was only 38.8%, slightly higher than the turnout in the 2020 elections held during the pandemic.
• Out of the island’s 2.8 million population, only about 2 million registered voters are eligible to vote. Elections are held for a total of 63 seats in Jamaica’s House of Representatives. The leader of the party securing a majority becomes the next Prime Minister of the island.
• The new leader will appoint 13 out of 21 senators in Jamaica’s upper house of parliament, while the opposition will choose the remaining eight.
• During Holness’s tenure, Jamaica has seen a 43% decline in murders so far this year, the largest drop in decades. This improvement is largely credited to the current administration’s increase in firearm seizures and the strong, coordinated presence of security forces on the Caribbean island.
• The Jamaica Labour Party campaigned on this solid success and positioned itself as the government that pulled the island back from the brink of widespread violence.

About Jamaica

• It is an island country in the Caribbean with an area of 10,990 square kilometers (4,240 square miles). It is the third largest island in the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean after Cuba and Hispaniola.
• Jamaica is the third most populous Anglophone country in North America and the fourth most populous country in the Caribbean. Kingston is the country’s capital and largest city.
• After the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1494, the island’s indigenous Taíno people gradually came under Spanish rule. The island remained under Spain’s control as Santiago until 1655, when England (later part of the British Empire) conquered it and renamed it Jamaica.