Voting: 16 general elections, smooth change of governments
Jamaica’s road to universal adult suffrage and political independence began in earnest when Norman Manley, the doyen of Jamaican nationalism, convened a delegates conference of the People's National Party between April 12 and 14, 1939 to hammer out the PNP’s position on constitutional change. The conference, which was attended by some 100 delegates, advocated that the new constitution for Jamaica should provide for “a parliamentary democracy on the lines which obtained in other self-governing units in the British Commonwealth, and the right of all persons of full age and without disability to vote as a condition precedent to a representative form of government”.
It took some five more years of agitation, discussion and negotiation before the new constitution was finally agreed on and published in the Jamaica Gazette of November 17, 1944. It provided for a 32-member House of Representatives to be elected by universal adult suffrage. The new constitution was celebrated in a formal ceremony on November 20 when it was announced the Jamaica’s first election under universal adult suffrage would be held on December 14th.
It is significant that Britain had only achieved universal adult suffrage in 1928 and the United States in 1965, eleven years after Jamaica. An interesting observation is that up until then Jamaica was the only colony and the only state with a black majority to conduct elections on the basis of universal adult suffrage.
The next milestone was the constitutional advance of May 1953 which created effective political heads of ministries and designated the leader of the elected majority as Chief Minister. Alexander Bustamante became Jamaica’s first Chief Minister.
In 1959 Jamaica took a major constitutional step forward with the introduction of internal self-government which transferred power to elected Jamaicans over all internal matters with Norman Manley, who was then the leader of the elected majority, taking the title of Premier.
The general elections of April 1962 saw the triumphant return of Alexander Bustamante, the leader of the Jamaica Labour Party, who would lead Jamaica into independence and become the country’s first Prime Minister.
Since independence the Jamaican voters have taken their responsibility very seriously. In the sixteen general elections held, no less than five out of every ten voters have cast their ballots with a record 95.5 percentage turn-out in the 1959 elections. On every occasion the government and ruling party has left office voluntarily to facilitate a peaceful transfer of the reis of power. At no time has Jamaica’s parliamentary democracy been marred by the assassination of political leaders, civil war, military takeover or one-party dictatorship. Of all the colonies which got independence before or with Jamaica, only New Zealand has a record of political stability and parliamentary democracy comparable to Jamaica. This is a record of which all Jamaicans can be justly proud.
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