BA BETA KRISTIYAN HAILE SELASSIE I 

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Oct 16, 2002 10:30 am ET

KINGSTON, Jamaica (Reuters) - In a narrow West Kingston lane, behind a plain wall that bears the name of
the late Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie, Jamaica's largest Rastafarian political party plots its campaign
strategy to spread its ideals of helping the poor throughout Jamaica.
The Imperial Ethiopian World Federation Inc. Political Party has seven candidates on the ballot for
Wednesday's national elections.
The peace-loving Rastafarians, who consider Selassie divine and marijuana a sacrament, say they have
a pragmatic program to lift the lot of all Jamaicans.
They have little hope of winning. Polls indicate the election will be a cliffhanger between the Caribbean
nation's entrenched political forces, the ruling People's National Party, and the opposition Jamaica
Labour Party.
Commentator Clinton Hutton, a lecturer at the University of the West Indies, said the Rastafarians
"don't have a chance" of gaining a seat in Jamaica's parliament." The People's National Party and
Jamaica Labour Party are likely to win all 60 seats.
But "they (Rastafarians) should be taken seriously, given the fact that Jamaica is in a political crisis,"
Hutton told the Observer newspaper, lauding Rastafarians for being at the forefront of social change.
"We emphasize education, housing for people, low-income housing, and Rasta rights," Junior
Anderson, a 54-year-old dreadlocked candidate for Kingston Central, said on Tuesday. "Community
development, more incentive for people. Let the private sector and government put in more."
While Jamaica's election campaign has been plagued by violence -- stonings, clashes between rival
parties, shooting at motorcades -- the Rastafarians said they have encountered only acceptance from
Jamaicans.
"Within Rasta concept, the hungry be fed, the naked clothed, the sick nourished," said Ascento
Ammanuel Foxe, 65, president of the federation.
Foxe, a bearded philosopher who wears a medallion with Selassie's image around his neck, estimated
there are as many as 400,000 Rastafarians in Jamaica, a figure others said was much too high.
Smoking marijuana is common among Rastafarians and if they ever gain a foothold in Parliament, the
party would try to modify Jamaica's law to decriminalize marijuana use.
"If you're smoking in private property it should not be criminal," Foxe said. "But there are people who
don't want you to smoke in public."
Despite their slim chances for victory, the Rastafarians seem undeterred, saying their growing party will
field candidates in all 60 constituencies next election.