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| Jamaica History |
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Jamaica was inhabited by Arawak Indians prior to the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1494. A few years later, it was officially colonised by the Spanish whose rule lasted until 1655. They were displaced by the British who turned Jamaica into the most significant of the British Caribbean slaving colonies. Within 100 years, the whole island had been divided up into large plantations owned by truant landlords and worked by forced labour imported from West Africa. After the abolition of slavery in 1834, Jamaica became relatively wealthy under orthodox colonial rule until the early 20 th century when a spate of natural disasters, compounded by the depression of the 1930's, sent the economy into decline.
The 1930's also saw the rise of black political activity and trade union organisation, forming the oppositions that characterise modern Jamaican politics in the process. Since independence in 1962, the political arena has been subjugated 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 1960's, however lost the national election of 1972 to the PNP under the leadership of Michael Manley.
Manley’s father Norman had founded the PNP and Michael Manley shared the radical socialist agenda of his father. The PNP programme was very 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 United States government. The Americans provided considerable backing for the rival JLP and its leader, Edward Seaga.
Among 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, Jamaican troops were committed to the American led invasion of Grenada in 1983 which ousted that Jamaica’s radical government. Seaga ran the country for the rest of the decade but proved unable to improve Jamaica’s economic fortunes.
In 1989, Manley was restored to power. Although he still enjoyed huge personal fame, 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, adopting free market economic policies and making great efforts to stay on good terms with the United States. Elections in April 1993 established Patterson in the post with a landslide victory, and the PNP under Patterson has been in power ever since.
Successive elections, most recently in October 2002, have been constantly marred by violence and intimidation, especially in deprived urban areas, but there have been no serious complaints about the outcome of the polls. Patterson has now been in power for a decade while his opposite number, Edward Seaga, remains leader of the Jamaica Labour Party, despite losing 3 elections in a row. Both men have been at the top of Jamaican politics since the 1960's.
Apart from dealing with the island’s difficult economic situation, the new Patterson government must also address persistent and gradually more vocal demands for constitutional reform, specifically, an elected head of state to replace the British monarch. Patterson now seems amenable to disposing of what he has recently described as “this last vestige of colonialism”, indicating that he wished to see the necessary change to the constitution performed before his retirement from office in 2007. |
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