General elections were held in

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

on 25 February 2016. The elections were largely a contest between the governing

People's National Party The People's National Party (PNP) (PNP; ) is a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in Jamaica, political party in Jamaica, founded in 1938 by Norman Manley, Norman Washington Manley who served as party president unti ...

(PNP) and the opposition

Jamaica Labour Party 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 (as is the case for "Labour" parties in se ...

(JLP). The result was a narrow victory for the JLP, which won 32 of the 63 seats. One political commentator described the poll as "the closest election Jamaica has ever had". The JLP's share of the vote was the lowest for a winning party since

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

, when the JLP won 50.1% of the vote, and its resulting majority in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

was the narrowest since the 1949 elections. A similarly close election occurred in

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, in which two seats changed hands on recounts.

Background

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Portia Simpson-Miller announced the date of the general election on 31 January 2016. The nomination date of 9 February 2016 was also announced. The election can be considered as having been called early, as it was

constitutionally A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

due between 29 December 2016 (the date in 2011 of the previous general election) and 16 April 2017 (within five years and three months of the date in 2012 of the first sitting of the new Parliament, on 17 January). There is no fixed election date in effect in

at this time; hence, the choice of election date is the

prerogative In law, a prerogative is an exclusive right bestowed by a government or State (polity), state and invested in an individual or group, the content of which is separate from the body of rights enjoyed under the general law. It was a common facet of ...

of the Prime Minister.

Electoral system

The 63 members of the

are elected in single-member

constituencies An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

first-past-the-post voting First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or first-preference, and the candidate with more first- ...

. The Representation of the People Act permits the candidacy of voters above the age of 21. Any

Commonwealth citizen A Commonwealth citizen is a citizen of a Commonwealth of Nations member state. Most member countries generally do not treat citizens of other Commonwealth states any differently from foreign nationals, but may grant limited citizenship rights ...

residing in Jamaica can vote in the election if they are older than 18 years. To be included on the

ballot A ballot is a device used to cast votes in an election and may be found as a piece of paper or a small ball used in voting. It was originally a small ball (see blackballing) used to record decisions made by voters in Italy around the 16th cent ...

, a nomination must include the signatures of at least ten eligible voters from the same constituency. The nomination form must then be submitted during a four-hour period on nomination day.

Campaign

A total of 152 candidates registered to contest the elections, with both the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People's National Party (PNP) nominating a candidate in every constituency. Minor parties put forward a small number of candidates, with seven from the National Democratic Movement, six from the Marcus Garvey People's Progressive Party and two from the People's Progressive Party.

Results

Preliminary results saw the opposition JLP gaining a total of twelve seats, taking a slender three-seat majority over the governing PNP in the House of Representatives. No other parties were elected. Among those elected were Robert Montague, Chairman of the JLP, and

Juliet Holness Juliet Holness (née Landell; born July 16, 1971) is a Jamaican politician who is the current List of speakers of the House of Representatives of Jamaica, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Member for Saint Andrew East Rural (Jamaica Parl ...

. The voter turnout of 47.7% was the lowest since 1983, the year when the PNP boycotted the election. JLP leader

Andrew Holness Andrew Michael Holness, (born 22 July 1972) is a Jamaican politician who has served as Prime Minister of Jamaica since 3 March 2016, having previously served from 2011 to 2012, and as Leader of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) since 2011. Ho ...

became Prime Minister-designate, regaining the position he lost to Simpson-Miller after the previous election in 2011. Subsequently, however, a recount in the St. Mary South Eastern constituency led to a 127-vote margin in favour of the JLP being overturned and the result being called for the PNP by 9 votes, narrowing the margin in the House to 32–31. The recount in St. Mary South East had also called into question results in St. Ann South West, St. James South, St. Catherine North Eastern, and St. Andrew Eastern, which were decided by similarly narrow margins. After recounts, the JLP was declared to have 32 seats to the PNP's 31, a bare majority of one. The JLP planned to contest the St. Mary South East recount that saw its margin narrow. The final count, as authorised by the Electoral Commission, was announced on 2 March. A similarly close election occurred in

, in which two seats changed hands on recounts.

Aftermath

The new parliament was convened on 10 March 2016,Prime Minister’s Address at Opening of the New Session of Parliament
Office of the Prime Minister meaning that constitutionally the next general elections will be due between 25 February 2021 (five years after the date of this election) and 10 June 2021 (within five years and three months of the date of the first sitting of the new Parliament), unless elections are called earlier by the Prime Minister. A by-election in St. Mary South-East was held on 30 October 2017 following the death of PNP incumbent Winston Green. The seat was won by Norman Dunn of the JLP,By-Election 2017: JLP's Dunn wins St Mary SE seat
Jamaica Observer, 30 October 2017 giving them a three-seat majority in parliament.

References

{{Jamaican elections Elections in Jamaica

2016 in Jamaica February 2016 in North America