PM Holness and Mark Golding Both Claim Victory in Jamaica’s Local Government Elections
Jamaicans took to the polls on Monday, February 26 for Local Government Elections to vote for candidates they want to govern their division.
Late Monday night, the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) declared that the preliminary count of the 2024 Local Government Election was too close to announce a victor hence the count will be completed on Tuesday, February 27.
However, despite not having an official verdict, the leaders of both parties on Monday night declared victory for their party.
On Monday night, during a media briefing at Belmont Road, Prime Minister and Leader of the Jamaica Labour Party Andrew Holness said, “Without question, the Jamaica Labour Party has won”.
He continued, “Clearly, if there was a general election the Jamaican Labour Party will still be the government of Jamaica.”
He went on to outline that the PNP retained Westmoreland, Hanover, Manchester and St. Catherine.
On the other hand, the JLP retained “7 municipal corporations with a clear lead”. The JLP got majority votes for the parishes of St. Ann, Trelawny, St. Mary. St. Thomas, St. James, St. Elizabeth and Portland
Meanwhile, Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) and Clarendon, based on the preliminary count, tied, however, a winner for these areas are expected to be announced at a later date.
Check out Holness’ post-election speech below:
On the other hand, the leader of the opposition Mark Golding of the People’s National Party declared a win for the party in the Local Government Elections in his post elections speech.
Golding stated, “Comrades we have won the popular vote in Jamaica… we have pulled off a great victory today, the people have spoken.”
As per the elections watchdog on Monday night, 6,556 boxes were counted, representing 97.5 per cent of the total 6,726 boxes.
