Jamaican National Democratic Movement - Definition and Overview

The Jamaican National Democratic Movement is Jamaica’s main center-right political party. The National Democratic Movement (NDM) was formed in 1995 by Bruce Golding. Golding was formerly the chairman of the Jamaican Labour Party (JLP) before he and others felt the need to split. In their 1997 manifesto, the party expresses the reasons why they felt the need to break from the Jamaican Labour Party. Namely, they believed that after gaining independence from the United Kingdom in 1962, Jamaicans had suffered from the harsh combination of a stagnant economy and a rapidly growing population. They believed that the Jamaican people needed major reform in order to create a more equitable, stable society. The party made its presence known in the General Election in December 1997. Although the two main political parties of Jamaica received the majority of votes, the National Democratic Movement received the most number of votes of all minor parties in each constituency.

Currently, the party acts more as a medium for discussion than as a threat to the two major political parties of Jamaica, the Jamaican Labour Party and People’s National Party (PNP). On August 26, 2003, Michael Williams, the General Secretary of the NDM wrote an article in the Jamaica Gleaner addressing the party’s performance in recent elections and their vision for the future and assured Jamaicans that “We [the NDM] will continue to promote our vision of Unity, Hope and Prosperity for Jamaicans and ‘a new day and a new way and a new Jamaica’.” The current President of the NDM is Earle DeLisser.

Related Links

http://www.ndm4jamaica.org