KINGSTON, Jamaica — The United Independents’ Congress (UIC), having satisfied the requirements of the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act 2016, has been certified by the Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) as Jamaica’s third registered political party.

The UIC, based in Bogue, St Elizabeth and led by Joseph Patterson, submitted its application for registration with the Commission in February.

Chairman of the ECJ, Dorothy Pine-McLarty, welcomed the addition of the UIC to Jamaica’s cadre of registered political parties.

“We are pleased that another political party has been successfully registered. I believe this indicates that our democracy is moving in a positive direction. I encourage other political parties to seek to formalise their registration with the ECJ,” she said.

According to the Commission, the UIC will now be eligible to contest future elections as a registered political party and will have its finances monitored by the ECJ.

ECJ further noted that UIC now joins the other two registered political parties, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the Peoples National Party (PNP), both of which were registered in 2018.

UIC was launched in 2015 with an aim “to create a Jamaica where all Jamaicans can live, work and retire with dignity and liberty in their own country”.

Patterson, the party’s founder and President, ran in the February 25, 2016 Parliamentary Election where he sought to represent the St Elizabeth North Eastern constituency.

He lost that bid.