Congratulations to the Jamaica Labour Party for its hard fought victory at the polls after 18 years in Opposition have been pouring in from several sectors since the tentative declaration by the Electoral Office of Jamaica on Monday night of a 32-seat win by the party to the People’s National Party’s 28.

Yesterday, the Jamaica Council of Churches, in a joint statement from several church leaders in the religious community, congratulated the party but expressed concern that “the closeness of the results may create some challenges for governance” and implored leaders to use the opportunity for creativity and partnership.

The church group, however, praised JLP leader Bruce Golding and successful candidates on the party’s victory and urged Jamaicans to accept the final results of the elections whenever they are released by the Electoral Office of Jamaica as “reflecting the mind of the people of Jamaica”.

The Council of Churches, in recognising the PNP “for contributing to a spirited and competitive campaign” said it hoped that the desire to serve, which prompted the candidates to offer themselves for leadership, would find expression in other areas of national life.

Meanwhile, the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce, in a similar statement, straight off the bat reiterated its call for the “new government to, within the first one hundred days of being in office” address the need for Government to work closely with the private sector to create a more competitive business environment and level the playing field to ensure that local investors have access to incentives.

It also urged the Government to buy into the private sector’s proposed Partnership for Progress Initiative and look at ways of reducing the level of “bureaucracy” which it said remains a deterrent to the growth of the local business sector.

At the same time, the Chamber said it was grateful to the PNP for the zeal with which it represented itself and competed in the political campaign.

The Jamaica Diaspora in the UK has also affirmed the ‘new government’, saying it was pleased that in his first speech after the results Golding emphasised the need for co-operation and pledged to seek to establish inclusiveness between Government and Opposition.

“The Jamaica Diaspora UK offers its full co-operation to the new Government and looks forward to continuing our work with the Government to build on the progress achieved so far to forge a strong and effective partnership between Jamaicans overseas and Jamaicans at home,” it said.