Jamaica, Sept 5: Prime Minister Andrew Holness has secured a third term in office, according to the preliminary results from Jamaica’s fractious parliamentary election.The results released early on Thursday showed that Holness’ Jamaica Labour Party won at least 34 seats in the previous day’s vote. The governing party’s main challenger, the People’s National Party, secured 29 of the 63 seats in parliament.
That saw the opposition party’s leader Mark Golding concede defeat in an election which was dominated by concerns over inequity and the economy, and marred by allegations of corruption and low voter turnout.
Make no mistake about it, this was not an easy victory,” Holness told supporters after declaring victory, according to the Jamaica Observer.
In a post on X, he announced that his “historic third term” was not just a win for his party but “a win for you, the people”.
Conceding in a brief speech, Golding said he was disappointed in the outcome but acknowledged his opponent’s success.
Despite a vibrant democratic tradition, recent years have seen a decline in poll participation in Jamaica.
The turnout for Wednesday’s polls was just 38.8 percent, which was only slightly higher than the turnout for the 2020 elections, which took place during the pandemic.