Parties in dead heat as Jamaicans vote

In a close and tense general election fraught with fears of political violence, Jamaicans today voted for politicians promising to stem spiralling crime and kick-start a sluggish economy.

Prime Minister PJ Patterson, whose People’s National Party held a slight edge in pre-election polls, hopes to become the first leader awarded three consecutive terms in the Caribbean nation.

His opponent, former Prime Minister Edward Seaga, says his Jamaica Labour Party is calling for change to rescue the moribund tourism industry, create jobs and curb a high murder rate blamed largely on drug traffickers.

"The election means progress for the country, and the PNP is for poor people," said 45-year-old painter Newton Douse, who cast his ballot just after polls opened.

Both parties are trying to win a majority of the 60 parliamentary seats, which will determine government control for the next five years. More than one million Jamaicans were expected to cast ballots.

The elections, being observed by former US President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Jimmy Carter and 59 international observers, have stirred anxiety as party supporters trade insults and gunfire.

But Carter, who watched Douse and other voters trickle into a school and health centre, said: "Everything seems to be going quite well."

He planned to visit about 40 polling sites in the Kingston area, while members of the observer team were expected at about 1,000 sites.

Carter noted that few of the nearly 50 killings in the weeks leading up to the vote were politically motivated, and the toll is a sharp drop from the nearly 800 killed during 1980 elections that Seaga, then premier, lost to Patterson’s mentor and predecessor, Michael Manley.

"The elections are better this time. There is more security," said voter Marrel Dias, an office worker. "We need peace, a better environment and no war."

Thousands of police officers and soldiers were deployed to maintain security, and both Patterson and Seaga have urged restraint from their supporters.

"This madness must stop," Patterson said of the pre-election killings in a radio address.

Most Jamaicans trace the violence to the late 1970s, when politicians encouraged – and some say armed - Kingston street gangs to intimidate opponents and rustle up votes.

Pollster Don Anderson released its final survey yesterday showing Patterson’s party with 40.6% support compared to 36.4% for Seaga’s party.

Patterson, 68, became Jamaica’s first black prime minister in 1992, after the retirement of Manley, a socialist-minded leader who defied his roots in Jamaica’s light-skinned elite to uplift blacks.

Patterson has promised to rebuild Jamaica’s crumbling infrastructure and resume hanging killers for the first time since 1988 to reduce crime, a vow criticised by human rights groups.

Seaga, who led Jamaica during the 1970s, has painted the election as Jamaica’s last hope to reverse years of stagnant economic growth and high unemployment.

Jamaica’s economy grew by just 1.1% last year, and its tourism industry was ravaged by the fallout from the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Speaking to a throng of shouting, green-clad supporters on Sunday, Seaga said ordinary Jamaicans have suffered too long without adequate health care, education and basic infrastructure.

"Now we will take the great stride forward to bring a decent quality of life to every Jamaican," said the 72-year-old Seaga.

With polls indicating such a tight race, some observers have raised concern over a possible 30-30 tie in the number of seats won. Jamaica’s constitution makes no provisions for such a scenario.

Omar Douglas, a 21-year-old security guard voting in his first election, said expensive school fees and a lack of jobs convinced him to vote for the Labour Party.

"This country’s going backwards," Douglas said. "There’s got to be a change."