Election workers across Jamaica recounted votes on Tuesday after the opposition Jamaica Labour Party apparently ended the ruling party's 18-year reign in a cliffhanger vote, winning 31 of 60 seats in parliament.
The preliminary result triggered gunfire and raucous celebrations in the capital, Kingston, late on Monday. A soldier was wounded by gunmen who attacked a police barracks, police said.
Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller refused to concede defeat, alleging the hurricane-delayed vote was marred by irregularities, including illegal campaigning and "buying votes." She said People's National Party candidates could make legal challenges to results in some constituencies. Turnout was estimated at about 60 percent for an election delayed a week by Hurricane Dean, which killed five people, ravaged coastal homes and destroyed 90 percent of the banana crop when it passed just to the south on August 19.
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