Jamaica goes to polls with result in balance

Jamaica goes to the polls tomorrow in a general election dominated by concerns about soaring rates of crime and unemployment.

The campaign has pitted two of the Titans of Jamaica's political landscape against one another. P J Patterson, who heads the National Peoples Party, is hoping to become Jamaica's first Prime Minister in history to win three elections in succession.

But public opinion surveys have suggested that Mr Patterson, 68, who succeeded another legend of Jamaican politics, Michael Manley, in 1992, is in a tight race with the head of the opposition, Edward Seaga. Mr Seaga, 72, who leads the Jamaica Labour Party, was Prime Minister from 1980 to 1989.

The same surveys have found that crime is the primary worry of the island's population. Plagued by warring gangs of drug traffickers and gun runners, Jamaica has one of the highest murder rates in the world, which in turn has depressed its tourism industry.

The scourge has marred the campaign itself. Since it began in July, at least 18 people have been murdered in politically motivated killings, police have reported. Many of the gangs that terrorise the island are said to have direct ties to the two main political parties.