Michael Manley

Michael Norman Manley (December 10, 1924 March 6, 1997) was the fifth flowering Minister of Jamaica (1972 1980, 1989 1992). The molybdenum son of Jamaicas Premier Norman Manley and Jamaican artist Edna Manley, Michael Manley was a magnetic figure who became the leader of the Jamaican Peoples National party a a couple of(prenominal) months before his fathers death in 1969. Contents hide 1 Reforms 2 diplomatical negotiations 3 furiousness 4 Opposition 5 Re-election 6 Family 7 Retire custodyt and death 8 Sources 9 Notes ReformsManley soundly beat the less-traveled incumbent Prime Minister Hugh Shearer (his cousin) in the election of 1972 afterward lead on a platform of better must come, giving power to the people and leading a government of truth. Manley instituted a series of socio-economic reforms that yielded intricate success. Though he was a biracial Jamaican from an elite family, Manleys palmy trade union background helped him to maintain a close birth with the co untrys poor, cutting majority, and he was a dynamic, popular leader.Unlike his father, who had a temperament for being orchis and businesslike, the younger Manley moved easily among people of every strata and made Parliament accessible to the people by abolishing the requirement for men to wear jackets and ties to its sittings. In this regard he started a fashion revolution, oftentimes preferring the kariba shirt or bush jacket over a formal suit. Diplomacy Manley developed close friendships with several foreign leaders, foremost of whom were Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Olof Palme of Sweden, capital of South Dakota Trudeau of Canada and Fidel Castro of Cuba.With Cuba just 145 km (90 miles) north of Jamaica, he strengthened diplomatic relations between the two island nations, much to the dismay of United soils policymakers. At the 1979 meeting of the non-aligned movement, Manley strongly pressed for the development of what was c entirelyed a natural alignment between the Non-a ligned movement and the Soviet Union to battle imperialism. In his spoken language he said, All anti-imperialists know that the balance of forces in the world shifted irrevocably in 1917 when there was a movement and a man in the October Revolution, and Lenin was the man. Manley saw Cuba and the Cuban model as having much to offer twain Jamaica and the world. In diplomatic affairs, Manley believed in respecting the different systems of government of other countries and non interfering in their internal affairs. Violence Manley was the Prime Minister when Jamaica undergo a significant escalation of its political culture of violence. Supporters of his opponent Edward Seaga and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and Manleys Peoples National Party (PNP) engaged in a bloody deal which began before the 1976 election and ended when Seaga was installed as Prime Minister in 1980.While the violent political culture was not invented by Seaga or Manley, and had its roots in conflicts between t he parties from as wee as the commence of the two-party system in the 1940s, political violence reached unprecedented levels in the 1970s. Indeed, the two elections accompanied by the greatest violence were those (1976 and 1980) in which Seaga was assay to unseat Manley. Violence flared in January 1976 in anticipation of elections.A enounce of Emergency was declared by Manleys party the PNP in June and 500 people, including both(prenominal) prominent members of the JLP, were accused of trying to overthrow the government and were detained, without charges, in a specially created prison at the Up-Park Camp military headquarters 1. Elections were held on 15 December that year, while the state of emergency was still in effect. The PNP was returned to office. The State of Emergency continued into the next year. Extraordinary powers granted the police force by the Suppression of Crime Act of 1974 continued to the end of the 1980s.Violence continued to blight political life in the 19 70s. Gangs armed by both parties fought for control of urban constituencies. In the election year of 1980 around 800 Jamaicans were killed. While the murder rate in Jamaica has long been high, Jamaicans were particularly ball over by the violence at that time. In the 1980 elections, Seagas JLP won and he became Prime Minister. Opposition As Leader of the Opposition Manley became an outspoken critic of the impudently conservative administration. He strongly opposed intervention in Grenada after Prime Minister Maurice Bishop was overthrown and executed.Immediately after committing Jamaican troops to Ronald Reagans encroachment of Grenada in 1983, Seaga called a snap election two years early on the pretext that Dr Paul Robertson, General Secretary of the PNP, had called for his resignation. Manley, who may drop been taken by surprise by the maneuver, led his party in a boycott of the elections, and so the Jamaica Labour Party won all seats in parliament against only marginal oppo sition in six of the sixty electoral constituencies. During his period of opposition in the 1980s, Manley, a compelling speaker, travelled extensively, speaking to audiences around the world.He taught a kill seminar and gave a series of public lectures at Columbia University in saucily York. In the 1980s a Judicial Enquiry, the Smith Commission, was held on the 1976 State of Emergency. Manley admitted that he declared it on evidence that was manufactured to help him inveigle the forthcoming election. In 1986 Manley travelled to Britain and visited Birmingham. He attended a tote up of venues including the Afro Caribbean Resource Centre in Winson Green and Digbeth Civic Hall. The mainly black audiences turned out en masse to hear Manley speak.Re-election By 1989 Manley had soften his socialist rhetoric, explicitly advocating a role for private enterprise. With the fall of the Soviet Union, he also ceased his support for a variety of international causes. In the election of that year he campaigned on a very check off platform. Seagas administration had fallen out of favor both with the electorate and the US and the PNP was re-elected handily. Manleys succor term was short and largely uneventful. In 1992, citing health reasons he stepped down as Prime Minister and PNP leader.His former Deputy Prime Minister, Percival Patterson, take for granted both offices. Family Michael Manley had 5 children Rachel Manley, Joseph Manley, Sarah Manley, Natasha Manley and David Manley. Retirement and death Manley wrote seven books, including the award-winning A History of West Indies Cricket, in which he discussed the links between cricket and West Indian nationalism. Michael Manley died of prostate cancer on 6 March, 1997, the same day as another Caribbean politician, Cheddi Jagan of Guyana