
distribution company and played a role in introducing ska to the world.Īt 29, he was appointed to Jamaica's upper legislative house by Labor Party founder and Jamaica's first prime minister, Alexander Bustamante.Īs opposition leader in the 1970s, Seaga railed against the socialist agenda of then-Prime Minister Michael Manley, saying it crippled the island's fragile economy. Prior to entering politics, Seaga was a major record producer who operated the West Indies Record Ltd. He studied anthropology at Harvard University and published several papers on Afro-Jamaican folklore and Obeah, a religion combining Christian and African rituals. citizenship at a young age to show his loyalty to Jamaica. He was West Kingston's representative for 40 consecutive years and held a parliamentary seat longer than anyone in Jamaica's history.īorn May 28, 1930, in Massachusetts to Lebanese-Jamaican parents, Seaga renounced his U.S. His political career began in the late 1950s and he won a parliamentary seat in 1962. Thomas's history.īuilt in 1885 of masonry and timber, the Simms building exhibits a combination of Gothic and Georgian features the projecting.Seaga, Jamaica's prime minister from 1980 until 1989, was the only remaining member of the generation of leaders who drafted the constitution when the Caribbean island gained independence from Britain in 1962. The Morant Bay Courthouse, which was destroyed by fire on Monday, February 19, 2007, is an important part of St. Portia Simpson MillerĮver since the capture of Jamaica by the English from the Spanish in 1655, the need for fortification became immediate because of the. Percival James PattersonĢ006 –2007: The Most Hon. Donald Sangsterġ972 – 1980: The Most Hon.

Sir Alexander Bustamanteġ967 (February - April): The Most Hon. Jamaica’s Prime Ministers since Independence However, in 1981 the subsequent Government reverted to the original 1969 decision that only the Governor-General who represents the Queen should be exempt from the ban on knighthood. The honour was created when the Government decided that the Governor-General should no longer accept personal knighthood or any knighthoods from the Queen of England. It carries the salutation 'Most Honourable'. In 1973 a special decoration was created - the Order of the Nation to be given to those who serve the nation as its Governor-General.

Sir Clifford Campbell was Jamaica's first native Governor-General. 2009-Incumbent: His Excellency The Most Hon.
#POLITICS OF JAMAICA PRIME MINISTER FREE#
The Commonwealth of Nations formerly described as the British Commonwealth or British Empire, is the name given collectively to all those territories which give allegiance to the British Crown or acknowledge the British Monarch as the symbol of their free association and as such the head of the Commonwealth.Ī parliamentary government is majority rule, equal rights for members to participate in the proceedings, protection of the right of the minority to be heard, and the orderly consideration of matters brought before the legislature.Ī democracy is a political system institutionalized under the rule of law. JAMAICA GAINED ITS INDEPENDENCE FROM BRITAIN IN 1962. There are also a number of independent candidates who have contested the general elections. There are, at present, three major political parties in Jamaica: the PEOPLE'S NATIONAL PARTY (PNP), the JAMAICA LABOUR PARTY (JLP), and the NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT (NDM). The PRIME MINISTER of Jamaica is the leader of the elected majority party in the House of Representatives. The official or constitutional Head of State is the GOVERNOR GENERAL, who is appointed by the monarch of Britain based on recommendation from the Prime Minister. Jamaica is a member-state of the COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS and is governed by PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY.
