Jamaica’s Minister of Legal and Constitutional Affairs Marlene Malahoo Forte has dismissed claims that Jamaica’s next general elections are constitutionally due by September 2025.
“That is not constitutionally correct,” she said at a meeting of the Joint Select Committee on the Constitution (Amendment) (Republic) Act, 2024.
She explained that Jamaica does not have fixed election dates. Instead, the Constitution allows Parliament to last up to five years from its first sitting after an election—not from the election date itself.
“If elections are not called earlier, Parliament automatically dissolves on the fifth anniversary of its first sitting. Elections must then be held within three months,” Malahoo Forte stated. This is outlined in Section 64 of the Constitution.
When is the general election due?
The last general election was on September 3, 2020, and Parliament’s first sitting happened shortly after. This means:
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The five-year term of Parliament will end in September 2025.
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If elections are not called before then, Parliament will automatically dissolve, and elections must be held within three months after that (by December 2025 at the latest).
Who decides the election date?
The Prime Minister has the power to advise the Governor-General on when to dissolve Parliament and set the election date. If no action is taken by the five-year mark, Parliament will dissolve on its own, but the PM still decides the election date within the three-month window.
Political analysts expect elections sometime in 2025, possibly in the summer, as both the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the People’s National Party (PNP) have increased their campaign activities.
Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness hinted that the countdown to general elections has begun, telling supporters that “every Jamaican will be called upon very soon to make a choice.”
However, while elections could be called anytime, there is no fixed September deadline. What’s certain is that the country will head to the polls by December 2025 at the latest.
