Opposition leads close Jamaica election
(Updates with PM statement, quotes)
By Jim Loney
KINGSTON, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Jamaica's opposition Labour Party was poised to end the ruling party's 18-year reign on Tuesday as a recount of votes widened its slim election lead to 32 out of 60 seats in parliament.
Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, who had said the results of Monday's election were too close to call and refused to concede, issued a statement saying her People's National Party, which had won four straight elections, accepted the preliminary results.
Elections director Danville Walker said a recount had boosted the JLP total, giving an additional seat to the party since a a preliminary tally.
"As of now, the seat count is 32-28," Walker said, adding that the official results could take until Thursday night.
Election workers across Jamaica were recounting ballots after Monday's close election, in which three constituencies were decided by fewer than 100 votes.
JLP leader Bruce Golding appeared to take a step closer to replacing Jamaica's first female prime minister with Simpson Miller's statement, which was interpreted by some local media as the awaited concession.
"The PNP accepts the announced preliminary results, while reserving all legal rights under the Jamaican constitution and our electoral laws," her statement said.
Simpson Miller, 61, who sought her first election mandate since replacing retiring P.J. Patterson last year, had complained on election night that the vote was marred by irregularities and there could still be legal challenges.
Despite the close result, the Caribbean island of 2.8 million people appeared to have largely escaped election day violence. Still, at least 10 people were shot dead on the final weekend of campaigning.
The results triggered gunfire and raucous celebrations in the capital, Kingston, late on Monday. A soldier was wounded by gunfire in an attack on a police outpost.
An Organization of American States election observer mission called the vote free and fair and said sporadic violence did not tarnish its credibility. "We feel that elections went well, that these elections were good elections," said OAS mission head Albert Ramdin.
Asked about Simpson Miller's allegations that some voters were denied their votes and that illegal campaigning and vote-buying took place, Ramdin said: "Our observers ... have not reported any of these specific incidents."
Golding avoided claiming outright victory late on Monday, saying that the party held a majority "at the moment." He made no statements on Tuesday.
Turnout was estimated at about 60 percent, after a week's delay due to Hurricane Dean, which killed five people, ravaged coastal homes and destroyed 90 percent of the banana crop when it passed on Aug. 19. Water and electricity were still being restored to parts of the island.
Golding, 59, rose in the JLP under the leadership of party boss Edward Seaga in the 1970s, when the JLP was the conservative, free-market foil to the PNP's socialism under Jamaican leader Michael Manley.
Analysts say both parties have moved to the center and there is little difference between their ideologies.
Golding has called for a more independent central bank, reduction of Jamaica's huge national debt and the budget deficit and creation of an offshore financial industry as well as universal access to health care. (Additional reporting by Horace Helps in Kingston)
