Elections in Jamaica provides information on elections and election results in Jamaica.
The Parliament of Jamaica has two chambers:
- The House of Representatives has 63 members, elected for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies.
- The Senate has 21 appointed members: 13 chosen by the Prime Minister and 8 by the Leader of the Opposition.
Jamaica effectively has a two-party system: there are two dominant political parties, and it is difficult for other parties to achieve electoral success.
Though the years are fixed due to the five-year term of the prime minister, the date of the election is traditionally announced by the ruling party a few months in advance. Recently, there has been debate over whether this "flexible date" system is the best for Jamaica, or whether the government should switch to a fixed date system.
Read more about Elections In Jamaica: Latest Elections, Past Elections and Referendums, Election Reform
Famous quotes containing the words elections and/or jamaica:
“Apparently, a democracy is a place where numerous elections are held at great cost without issues and with interchangeable candidates.”
—Gore Vidal (b. 1925)
“So in Jamaica it is the aim of everybody to talk English, act English and look English. And that last specification is where the greatest difficulties arise. It is not so difficult to put a coat of European culture over African culture, but it is next to impossible to lay a European face over an African face in the same generation.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)