Lynford Simpson and Daraine Luton, Gleaner Writers
Left: The PNP's Portia Simpson Miller ... seeking her own mandate. -File ...Right: Bruce Golding ... aiming to end the JLP's losing streak. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer
History hinges on a monumental vote today as Jamaicans go to the polls to elect a new government to manage the country's affairs for the next five years and determine the destiny of its major political leaders.
More than 1.3 million people are eligible to vote in this the country's 15th general election since the granting of universal adult suffrage in 1944.
President of the People's National Party (PNP), Portia Simpson Miller, is seeking to create history in two ways: first, as the only woman to be given a mandate by the Jamaican people; and second, to achieve an unprecedentedfifth term for the PNP, which has not lost a general election since 1989.
For his part, Bruce Golding, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) leader, is seeking to end an 18-year drought for his party in contested elections. The popular view is that it will be judgement day for whoever loses, as a defeat could signal the end of a long political career for either Golding or Simpson Miller.
With a lot at stake, both parties are confident of victory.
"The JLP is as ready for the election on September 3 as we could ever be. We are as prepared for the polls as we have ever been and perhaps we could ever be," said Karl Samuda, JLP general secretary, at a press briefing on Saturday.
"We are in a better position now than we were in 2002," Dr. Paul Robertson, the PNP's campaign director told The Gleaner.
"My confidence is grounded in the data and information I have, constituency by constituency."
Director of Elections, Danville Walker, said the EOJ is ready for the election, the only concern being rain.
"I would not want it to rain in the morning. I don't care if it rains in the afternoon," Walker told The Gleaner, noting that Sunday night into Monday morning, showers could be a challenge to opening some polling stations on time. Polling stations will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
It rained so heavily in the October 16, 2002 general election in which the PNP won 34 seats to the JLP's 26 seats, in the closet election in 30 years, that voter turnout was as low as 45 per cent in some constituencies.
Political analysts and commentators have said the election promises to be a close race between the two main parties. Others have predicted a win for the JLP.
The director of elections said that the results of today's election should be ready by 9:00 p.m.
Election facts
A total of 146 candidates are competing for the 60 seats in the House of Representatives.
Both the JLP and PNP have fielded 60 candidates.
The National Democratic Movement (NDM) has nominated 11 candidates.
The Imperial Ethiopian World Federation Incorporated Party (IEWFIPP) has nominated nine, candidates. Four independent candidates and five from minor parties have also been nominated.
The PNP has won eight of the previous elections to the JLP's six.
P.J. Patterson, who succeeded Michael Manley as PNP leader in 1992, led the party to three victories at the polls, winning in 1993, 1997 and 2002.
The JLP last won a contested general election in 1980, winning 51 seats to the PNP's nine, under Edward Seaga's leadership.
The PNP did not contest the snap election called by the JLP in 1983, claiming the JLP had reneged on a promise to clean up the voters' list.
The PNP is now being led by the charismatic Simpson Miller, whom Patterson said was the only hope of winning a fifth term.
Voter turnout in 2002 averaged a moderate 60 per cent.
More than 72 per cent of police, soldiers and election-day workers voted on August 28.
