Jamaica Politics

The politics of Jamaica, where ideological loyalties once ran so deep that overwrought party gunmen often shot out their differences in the streets, have turned topsy-turvy and blissfully peaceful since the country's last general election a little more than two years ago.

Helicopters roared overhead and armored personnel carriers rumbled down capital streets as the army deployed across Jamaica to quell three days of politically charged violence that police said killed at least 20 people. "The government cannot stand idly by and allow criminal elements to hold this country to ransom," Prime Minister P.J. Patterson told reporters after ordering the entire army into the countryside.

In the most violent campaign in more than a decade, Jamaica holds watershed elections today, marking the probable end of two political dynasties and underlining the nation's turn from radicalism to a moderate, free-market economy. Since Prime Minister P. J. Patterson called parliamentary elections three weeks ago, at least 11 people have been killed in incidents connected to the campaign, and several candidates and political workers have been attacked or threatened.

Jamaica's Rastafarians won the support of doctors, lawyers and even an English lord Wednesday in a bid to decriminalize marijuana. The Rastafarians, who worship the late Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, launched the Legalize Ganja Campaign because they regularly use marijuana in their rituals.

The conservative People's National Party won a crushing victory Tuesday in parliamentary elections marred by confusion approaching chaos and partisan conflicts that neared serious violence. With more than 60% of the vote counted, computer projections gave the PNP and its leader, Prime Minister P. J. Patterson, at least 64% of the vote against 36% for the opposition Jamaica Labor Party of former Prime Minister Edward Seaga, who conceded defeat.

Jamaica's Rastafarians won the support of doctors, lawyers and even an English lord Wednesday in a bid to decriminalize marijuana. The Rastafarians, who worship the late Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, launched the Legalize Ganja Campaign because they regularly use marijuana in their rituals.

Helicopters roared overhead and armored personnel carriers rumbled down capital streets as the army deployed across Jamaica to quell three days of politically charged violence that police said killed at least 20 people. "The government cannot stand idly by and allow criminal elements to hold this country to ransom," Prime Minister P.J. Patterson told reporters after ordering the entire army into the countryside.

The conservative People's National Party won a crushing victory Tuesday in parliamentary elections marred by confusion approaching chaos and partisan conflicts that neared serious violence. With more than 60% of the vote counted, computer projections gave the PNP and its leader, Prime Minister P. J. Patterson, at least 64% of the vote against 36% for the opposition Jamaica Labor Party of former Prime Minister Edward Seaga, who conceded defeat.

In the most violent campaign in more than a decade, Jamaica holds watershed elections today, marking the probable end of two political dynasties and underlining the nation's turn from radicalism to a moderate, free-market economy. Since Prime Minister P. J. Patterson called parliamentary elections three weeks ago, at least 11 people have been killed in incidents connected to the campaign, and several candidates and political workers have been attacked or threatened.

The politics of Jamaica, where ideological loyalties once ran so deep that overwrought party gunmen often shot out their differences in the streets, have turned topsy-turvy and blissfully peaceful since the country's last general election a little more than two years ago.