Andrew Holness becomes new Prime Minister of Jamaica, after his JLP defeats Simpson-Miller and her PNP

Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller’s People’s National Party had been predicted to win.

Andrew Holness and his opposition Jamaica Labor Party (JLP) narrowly won parliamentary elections Thursday.

Preliminary results from the Electoral Commission showed the JLP capturing 33 ridings in the 63-seat Parliament, enough to form a government. Voter turnout was around 47 percent.

Andrew Holness, was greeted by cheering supporters as he arrived at party headquarters in the capital following the announcement of the results in a hard-fought fight with the People’s National Party (PNP) of Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller.

Holness, ready to form a government as the new prime minister, pledged to create jobs and grow the economy while improving education and health care. “We don’t take it that we have won a prize,” he told the crowd. “The cost of victory is to keep the commitments we have made.”

Simpson-Miller became the country’s first female leader in 2006. That first term ended in 2007, but she returned as prime minister in 2011 amid a shrinking economy and one of the highest levels of debt relative to GDP in the world. Her government negotiated a US$930 million aid package with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The Jamaican dollar has declined, the cost of living has gone up and wages have been stagnant. The IMF, however, has praised the government for cutting debt and making other reforms to its economy and the country’s stock market was rated among the best performing in the world last year.

But Holness’s campaign pledge to make the economy more dynamic with cuts to the income tax and other measures resonates with many in a country with a high youth unemployment rate.

Holness served as prime minister for a period of weeks in late 2011 after Bruce Golding’s surprise resignation as prime minister.

Source: Associated Press