National Democratic Movement

This an article about a Jamaican party. For a Polish movement, see National Democracy. For other parties, see National Democratic Party disambiguation.

The National Democratic Movement (NDM) is a small conservative political party in Jamaica, led by Earl DeLisser. At the 16 October 2002 elections, the party won no seats as part of the New Jamaica Alliance.

The NDM was formed in 1995 by Bruce Golding. Golding was formerly the chairman of the Jamaica 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 Jamaica 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 votes of all minor parties in each constituency.

Now the party acts more as a medium for discussion than as a threat to the two major political parties of Jamaica, the JLP 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 President of the NDM is Earle DeLisser.

External links

• http://www.ndm4jamaica.org