Jamaican leader wins an historic third term

Supporters of the ruling People's National Party revelled yesterday in the streets of Kingston, Jamaica, to celebrate victory in the general election on Wednesday. The win means that the Prime Minister, PJ Patterson, is poised to stay in office for an unprecedented third consecutive term.

Preliminary results – the final tallies will be released this morning – indicated that Mr Patterson's party had won 35 of the 60 seats in Jamaica's parliament, with the opposition Jamaica Labour Party, headed by Edward Seaga, garnering 25 seats.

"I want to give thanks to the voters of Jamaica who have given us a mandate to continue," Mr Patterson said at a victory rally in the capital. "I don't want to regard this campaign as between victor and the vanquished, but something that allows us to unite."

The race was tight, however, and Mr Patterson will now rule with a much diminished majority. The government, which is confronting deepening public dissatisfaction with a drooping economy, growing unemployment and staggering crime rates, faces a net loss of 13 seats.

"I would have preferred a larger margin," Mr Patterson acknowledged. "The message that we must derive is that all of us must work in unity in order to build a better Jamaica."

Polling day passed off relatively calmly as an 11,000-strong peacekeeping force patrolled the country to protect against political killings. The island is still haunted by election day in 1980, when 840 people died in fighting between gangs.

Mr Seaga, 72, a former prime minister, stopped short of conceding defeat, awaiting final results tomorrow.