Jamaica Government - 1986

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Official name: Jamaica

Type: independent state within Commonwealth, recognizing Elizabeth II as head of state

Capital: Kingston

Political subdivisions: 12 parishes and the Kingston-St. Andrew corporate area

Legal system: based on English common law; has not accepted compulsory 1CJ jurisdiction

National holiday: Independence Day, first Monday in August

Branches: Cabinet headed by Prime Minister; bicameral legislature—21-member Senate (13 nominated by the Prime Minister, eight by opposition leader, if any; currently no official opposition because of People’s National Party boycott of December 1983 election; eight non-Jamaica Labor Party members appointed to current Senate by Prime Minister Seaga), 60-member elected House of Representatives; judiciary follows British tradition under a Chief Justice

Government leaders: Edward Philip George SEAGA, Prime Minister (since November 1980); Sir Florizel A. GLASSPOLE, Governor General (since 1973)

Suffrage: universal adult at age 18

Elections: at discretion of Governor General upon advice of Prime Minister but within five years; last held 15 December 1983

Political parties and leaders: Jamaica Labor Party (JLP), Edward Seaga; People’s National Party (PNP), Michael Manley;

Workers’ Party of Jamaica (WPJ), Trevor Munroe

Voting strength: in the 1983 general elections 54 seats were uncontested; in 6 contested seats the JLP won overwhelmingly against several small fringe parties; the PNP and WPJ boycotted the election; in 1980 general elections approx. 58.8% JLP (51 seats in House), 41.2% PNP (9 seats)

Communists: Workers’ Party of Jamaica (Marxist-Leninist)

Other political or pressure groups: New World Group (Caribbean regionalists, nationalists. and leftist intellectual fraternity); Rastafarians (Negro religious/racial cultists, pan-Africanists); New Creation International Peacemakers Tabernacle (leftist group); Workers Liberation League (a Marxist coalition of students/lalior)

Member of: CAR1COM, Commonwealth, FAO, G-77, GATT, 1ADB, 1AFA, IBA, IBRD, ICAO, ICO, 1DB—Inter-American Development Bank, IFAD, 1FC, 1LO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, ISO, ITU, NAM, OAS, PAHO, SELA, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

NOTE: The information regarding Jamaica on this page is re-published from the 1986 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Jamaica 1986 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Jamaica 1986 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.