Jamaica

A

Executive

Executive power in Jamaica is vested in a cabinet. The cabinet consists of 17 ministers and is headed by the prime minister. The prime minister is the leader of the majority party and is appointed from the House of Representatives by the governor-general. The prime minister chooses the ministers of the cabinet.

B

Legislature

Legislative authority is vested in the bicameral Parliament. The 60 members of the House of Representatives are popularly elected to terms of up to five years. The governor-general appoints the 21 members of the Senate, 13 in accordance with suggestions by the prime minister, and the remaining 8 on the advice of the leader of the opposition party.

C

Judiciary

The legal and judicial system is based on English common law and practice. The judicature comprises the supreme court, a court of appeals, resident magistrates’ courts, petty sessional courts, and other courts.

D

Political Parties

Jamaica has two main political parties: the People’s National Party (PNP), which is socialist in orientation, and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), which supports free enterprise in a mixed economy. Minor parties include the National Democratic Movement, Natural Law Party, and United People’s Party.

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VI

History

Members of the Arawak tribe, an important group of the Arawakan linguistic stock of Native North Americans, were the aboriginal inhabitants of Jamaica (the Arawakan word Xaymaca, meaning “isle of springs”). Christopher Columbus sighted the island during his second voyage, and it became a Spanish colony in 1509. Saint Jago de la Vega (now Spanish Town), the first settlement and, for the ensuing 350 years, the capital, was founded about 1523. Colonization was slow under Spanish rule. The Arawak quickly died out as a result of harsh treatment and diseases. African slaves were imported to overcome the resultant labor shortage.

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