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History and Government
History: The island was inhabited by Arawak Indians prior to the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1494. A few years later, it was formally colonised by the Spanish whose rule lasted until 1655. They were displaced by the British who turned Jamaica into the most important of the British Caribbean slaving colonies. Within 100 years, virtually the whole island had been divided up into large plantations owned by absentee landlords and worked by forced labour imported from West Africa. After the abolition of slavery in 1834, Jamaica became relatively prosperous under orthodox colonial rule until the early 20th century when a spate of natural disasters, compounded by the depression of the 1930s, sent the economy into decline.
The 1930s also saw the rise of black political activity and trade union organisation, forming in the process the rivalries that characterise modern Jamaican politics. Since independence in 1962, the political arena has been dominated by the struggle between the right-wing Jamaican Labour Party (JLP) and the leftist People’s National Party (PNP). The JLP held power throughout the 1960s, but lost the national election of 1972 to the PNP under the leadership of Michael Manley.
Manley’s father Norman had founded the PNP and the younger Manley shared the radical socialist agenda of his father. The PNP programme was widely popular throughout the island and despite growing economic difficulties, the PNP were returned to office in 1976 with an increased majority. However, Manley had begun to develop close relations with Cuba, which inevitably brought down the wrath of the US government. The Americans provided substantial backing for the rival JLP and its leader, Edward Seaga.
Amid widespread political violence, with gun-toting supporters of both parties running amok on the streets, Seaga won the 1979 election. Seaga adopted a pro-American stance in economic and foreign affairs, loosening controls on foreign investment in Jamaica. Jamaican troops were later committed to the American-led invasion of Grenada in 1983 which ousted that island’s radical government. Seaga ran the country for the rest of the decade but proved unable to improve the country’s economic fortunes. In 1989, Manley was returned to power. Although he still enjoyed huge personal popularity, Manley was in poor health and in early 1992 he retired to be replaced by his deputy Percival (‘PJ’) Patterson. By now, the PNP leadership had reoriented the party, dropping much of its previous radical agenda, effecting free-market economic policies and making great efforts to stay on good terms with the US. Elections in April 1993 confirmed Patterson in the post with a landslide victory. The PNP under Patterson has been in power ever since; it won the most recent poll in October 2002 somewhat against expectations and once again conducted in an atmosphere of intense violence and intimidation, especially in deprived urban areas. Despite losing three elections in a row, Seaga remains the leader of the JLP. For the new government, the main priorities are dealing with the economic situation – which is still poor – and meeting persistent demands for constitutional reform.
Government: The head of state is the British monarch, represented by a Governor General who has nominal and rarely used powers. The 60-member House of Representatives, which is responsible for legislation, is elected every five years by universal suffrage. An upper house, the Senate, has 21 appointees to ratify legislation.
Copyright © 2003 Columbus Publishing Ltd.
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