Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness elected to a third term as main opposition candidate concedes

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness secured a third term early Thursday following a tight race on an island shaken by corruption, inequity and economic concerns.

Preliminary results showed that Holness’ Jamaica Labor Party won at least 34 seats, while Mark Golding’s opposition People’s National Party secured at least 29 seats.

Golding conceded the election in a brief speech, saying he was disappointed in the outcome as he acknowledged the success of his opponent.

“This is not an easy speech to make,” he said.

Also participating in Wednesday’s general elections were the Jamaica Progressive Party, the United Independents’ Congress and nine independent candidates seeking a seat in various constituencies.

Official voter turnout was just 38.8%, only slightly higher than the turnout for the 2020 elections during the pandemic.

Just over 2 million registered voters are eligible to cast their ballots on the island of 2.8 million people.

A total of 63 seats are up for grabs in Jamaica’s House of Representatives. The leader of the party that wins a majority becomes the island’s next prime minister.

The new leader will then appoint 13 of 21 senators to Jamaica’s upper chamber of Parliament, and the opposition will choose eight others.

Under Holness, Jamaica has seen a 43% drop in killings so far this year, marking the most significant decline in decades. The improvement is largely credited to the current administration’s increase in firearm seizures and a stronger, coordinated security force presence across the Caribbean island.

The Jamaica Labor Party campaigned on this tangible success, positioning itself as the government that pulled the island back from the brink of widespread violence.

While crime statistics have improved, the shadow of Jamaica’s violent past still lingers. The measures taken by the current government, including implementing states of emergency in certain areas, have drawn both support and criticism.

The private sector and many Jamaicans have praised the effectiveness of such measures, with the number of killings dropping by as much as 70% in some regions, like the tourist parish of St. James.

However, human rights organizations have raised concerns about the use and potential abuse of such measures, highlighting alleged illegal detentions, as they call for balanced approaches to protect security and civil liberties.

The Jamaica Labor Party also emphasized fiscal responsibility, a low unemployment rate and the importance of continuity as it urged voters not to risk reversing the progress achieved so far.

On Sunday, Holness pledged that his party would double the current minimum wage of $100 per 40-hour workweek if reelected.

“We believe in growing the economy so that everyone gets a bigger slice. As the economy expands, we must ensure those at the bottom are rewarded fairly, while creating incentives for more Jamaicans, especially our youth, to join the labor force,” he said at a recent rally.

But his pledge drew criticism from groups representing various business sectors.

“Tourism accounts for approximately one-third of Jamaica’s gross domestic product and is one of the country’s largest employers,” the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association said.

“Any shifts in wage policy will therefore have wide-ranging implications for the sector, including employment levels, competitiveness and the affordability of the Jamaican tourism product.”

The People’s National Party, or PNP, had adopted a sharper, more critical tone before the election. It asserted that while progress has been made, many Jamaicans still feel the pinch of socioeconomic challenges, including poverty, inadequate infrastructure and lingering pockets of crime and corruption.

“There are a lot of frustrated people tired of the conditions in which they live,” Golding told reporters as he voted on Wednesday.

The party aimed to channel public discontent into a mandate for change, promising reforms, renewed social investments and a break from what it calls “complacency” in governance.

Key among the party’s raft of policy proposals to address the socioeconomic woes of Jamaicans is increasing the income tax threshold to $21,800, up from the current $11,200. The opposition party says it wants working-class Jamaicans to take home more money as a cushion against rising prices.

Despite Jamaica’s vibrant democratic tradition, recent years have seen a decline in poll participation.

On Aug. 29, members of Jamaica’s security forces and election day workers cast their ballots for this year’s election. The electoral office reported a 57% turnout.

Associated Press Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico contributed.

People stand in line to vote at a polling station during general elections in Kingston, Jamaica, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Collin Reid)

Mark Jefferson Golding, opposition leader and president of the People's National Party who is running for Prime Minister, waves as he heads to a polling station during general elections in Kingston, Jamaica, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Collin Reid)

Mark Jefferson Golding, center, opposition leader and president of the People's National Party who is running for Prime Minister, shows his marked finger indicating he cast his ballot during general elections at a polling center in Kingston, Jamaica, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Collin Reid)

Mark Jefferson Golding, center, opposition leader and president of the People's National Party who is running for Prime Minister, walks to a polling station during general elections in Kingston, Jamaica, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Collin Reid)

FILE - Prime Minister of Jamaica Andrew Holness speaks following a meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex, in Washington, Wednesday, March 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The folksy wisdom and jokes that were a staple of the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting for decades when Warren Buffett was leading the show will be missing Saturday, but shareholders still started lining up at midnight outside a Nebraska arena to listen to new CEO Greg Abel.

Attendance is down significantly this year with the arena only a little over half full as the meeting started. That’s much different from the past few years when more than 40,000 attended to listen to the 95-year-old Buffett and — before his death in 2023, Buffett’s longtime partner Charlie Munger was always part of the fun. Buffett gave up the CEO title in January, but he remains chairman and will be sitting with the rest of the Berkshire board on the floor to listen at the meeting.

Saturday’s meeting began with a video tribute to Buffett filled with clips from the previous 60 years of annual meetings. The first clip showed the standing ovation Buffett received last year after he surprised shareholders by announcing that he would step down.

Abel then announced the symbolic move of retiring jerseys with Buffett’s and Munger’s names on them that will hang in the rafters of the arena.

Buffett took the microphone briefly to praise Abel and recognize Apple CEO Tim Cook, who attended the meeting. Buffett said Abel has done a tremendous job so far, and Cook helped Berkshire's initial $35 billion investment in Apple grow to be worth $185 billion today. Cook even got a longer round of applause than Buffett did when he was introduced.

“Greg is doing everything I did and then some,” Buffett said, so his decision to step down has worked out great so far.

Abel has been on stage next to the legendary investor at the annual meetings for several years, but this year is his first time running the show. Investors expect the conversation to focus more on how the dozens of companies Berkshire owns are doing. The conglomerate owns major insurers like Geico, several major utilities like Pacificorp, BNSF railroad and an assortment of manufacturers, retail and service businesses.

Signs of the transition are peppered throughout the 200,000-square-foot exhibit hall where shareholders buy products from Berkshire companies. A caricature of Abel playing his favorite sport of hockey is front and center on commemorative boxes of See’s Candy with Buffett and Mrs. See in the background in hockey gear. At the Pilot Travel Center booth pictures of Abel and Buffett are plastered on the windshield of a semitrailer truck, but Abel is in the driver’s seat. And this year Jazwares created a Squishmallow version of Abel to go with the latest versions of Buffett and his longtime partner Charlie Munger as stuffed dolls that shareholders lined up to buy.

“Sadly we miss Warren and Charlie and that show which was fun, but it’s a business meeting for a lot of us and hearing what the businesses are doing is what it’s all about,” investor Chris Bloomstran, who is president of Semper Augustus Investments Group said.

Abel opened the meeting that way with a detailed discussion of how Berkshire's biggest businesses are performing. He gave a granular explanation about the performance of Berkshire’s insurers, its railroad and its utilities. And he emphasized the way Berkshire is using artificial intelligence “to solve problems at our companies.”

But also many people travel to Omaha primarily to meet up with like-minded value investors, who practice the approach that Buffett employed, and attend some of the investment conferences and meetings that are scheduled around Berkshire’s shareholder meeting.

“That’s why I’m really here, really here is to network with other people,” said Bob Robotti, who runs his own investment company. He doesn’t expect surprises from Abel and the other Berkshire executives at the meeting. “They shouldn’t say anything that would be shocking and surprising because they’re consistent with what they do.”

Many investors are watching closely for any changes Abel might make, but there’s not a lot of reason expect anything big. After all, Abel has been with Berkshire for more than 25 years, and he had already been managing all of the conglomerate’s noninsurance businesses for nearly eight years by the time he was promoted.

Abel did make a few administrative changes to establish a team to help support him, but he has promised to maintain Berkshire’s culture that allows the CEOs of all of its businesses to largely run their day-to-day operations while consulting with headquarters on any major investments and sending any extra cash to Omaha.

The CEOs of Dairy Queen, See’s Candy, Jazwares and Brooks Running all said very little has changed since Abel was promoted other than they now report to NetJets CEO Adam Johnson who is overseeing 32 retail and service businesses.

“I think this is a very deeply rooted culture that Warren has created, and I believe the transition to Greg is going to be rooted in those values that Warren has for 60 years instituted and will continue,” Brooks CEO Dan Sheridan said.

For years Buffett always said he was having too much fun running Berkshire to ever retire, but once the shock of his announcement in the final minutes of last years meeting wore off the company’s executives quickly agreed this plan for the transition was better so Buffett can still be around to advise Abel.

“Berkshire is as strong today as it’s ever been and Warren is still part of it,” DQ CEO Troy Bader said as his staff sold Dilly Bars to shareholders. “Warren is still present. So that’s the greatest combination right now, to be able to have that transition in leadership where Greg and Warren can still work together.”

Abel is known to be a more demanding and hands-on boss than Buffett ever was, but he does that by challenging Berkshire’s CEOs to strengthen their competitive advantages while taking care of their customers. Abel asks tough questions and offers advice that his CEOs appreciate, but he doesn’t tell them exactly what to do.

And with Buffett remaining Berkshire’s chairman and its largest shareholder it’s unlikely that Abel will make any drastic changes. So shareholders shouldn’t expect Berkshire to start paying a dividend or that Abel will suddenly split the company up. Instead, Abel will continue building on the foundation Buffett established over 60 years.

Robotti said the performance of Berkshire’s businesses should be much more important to shareholders than the entertainment value of the annual meetings.

“My hope and expectation are they’re picking people who have competency in running a business and not necessarily public speakers and presenters,” Robotti said.

Berkshire said Saturday morning that its profits more than doubled in the first-quarter to $10.1 billion, or $7,027 per Class A share, as the value of its investments grew and most of its businesses improved.

The paper value of Berkshire’s investments always has a major impact on its bottom line, and it did record a $5.8 billion gain on the stocks it did sell. The value of the portfolio did slip to just over $288 billion.

Berkshire’s massive cash pile continues to grow, and it hit $397.4 billion at the end of the first quarter.

Most of Berkshire’s varied businesses reported better operating earnings this year. The insurance unit that includes Geico and a number of other companies reported an underwriting profit of $1.7 billion, up from $1.34 billion last year. Profits also grew somewhat at BNSF railroad and Berkshire’s utility and manufacturing companies.

But Abel acknowledged there is more improvement needed — especially at BNSF.

“We see a lot of opportunity here to continue to get better,” Abel said about the railroad.

Portraits of Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett, left, and CEO Greg Abel sit in a semi truck at the Pilot display in the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting on Saturday, May 2, 2026, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz)

Shareholders arrive inside the CHI Health Center Omaha for the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting on Saturday, May 2, 2026, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz)

Shareholders enter the CHI Health Center Omaha for the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting on Saturday, May 2, 2026, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz)

Shareholder Anna Larsen, 16, left, of Underwood, Iowa, poses for photo with her friend Ainsley Roberts, 17, in the Hello Kitty portion of the Squishmallows display in the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting on Saturday, May 2, 2026, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz)

Shareholder Alex Vacca of Milwaukee poses for a photo in a foam hat in the Justin display od the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting on Saturday, May 2, 2026, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Rebecca S. Gratz)

Author and former Omaha World-Herald reporter Steve Jordan signs copies of his book at the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders event on Friday, May 1, 2026 in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Josh Funk)

A Berkshire Hathaway shareholder takes a selfie in front of a Pilot truck stops semi truck with pictures of Berkshire's top two executives behind the wheel: new CEO Greg Abel and Chairman Warren Buffett on Friday, May 1, 2026 in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Josh Funk)

Berkshire Hathaway shareholders stand in line to purchase Squishmallows versions of the company's top executives: CEO Greg Abel, Chairman Warren Buffett and former Vice Chairman Charlie Munger on Friday, May 1, 2026 in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Josh Funk)

Berkshire Hathaway shareholders line up to buy products at the Pampered Chef booth behind a cutout of longtime CEO Warren Buffett who stepped down in January on Friday, May 1, 2026 in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Josh Funk)

Shareholders line up to take pictures with depictions of Berkshire Hathaway's new CEO Greg Abel and Chairman Warren Buffett on Friday, May 1, 2026 in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Josh Funk)