Land is a resource to preserve human dignity, and must not be viewed as a speculative asset. Idle lands should be divested to the state and distributed to address the people's needs.

Housing must be a fundamental right, and that right must not come secondary to speculative ownership. The government should actively build housing for everyone, not just for the middle class.

Urban development should be high-density, encourage walkability, and promote the building of affordable housing and communal spaces. There needs to be mixed-use zoning and more public transport to put a stop to suburban sprawl.

The government should renationalise the electricity grid and focus on grid improvements and distributing affordable, reliable electricity. All electricity generators should then compete to sell to the government, driving competition up and prices down.

While acknowledging its role on keeping fuel prices stable, we believe the Special Consumption Tax on fuel should be exempted for commercial and public passenger vehicles.

Amid renegotiations of our energy policy, the government should explore the feasibility of publicly owned nuclear energy.

Right now, roadworks focus on road expansions and building of semi-highways for private car traffic. These just add to urban sprawl without alleviating traffic congestion and productivity losses to long commutes.

Road development and maintenance must put pedestrian safety and livelihood first by encouraging seamless public transport and not obstructing foot traffic.

We also propose developing high-capacity mass transit, including a rail network. A monorail or tram connecting high-density areas like Downtown Kingston, Portmore, Spanish Town and Old Harbour should be considered.

We support the Jamaica Urban Transport Company's expansion into rural areas, and oppose any attempts to privatise the JUTC. We also propose tax rebates for public passenger vehicles (PPVs)

The minimum wage must consider people's needs and be based on documented living expenses - average rent, meal costs, transportation costs, and so on. The government should not only set a livable wage, but produce a budget showing how someone is to live off that wage.

Businesses too often rely on contract workers as well as part-time staff, interns, and freelancers to do the same work as their formal counterparts without giving them the same pay, benefits (like NHT or NIS contributions) or conditions. All contract and casual workers facing formal work demands should be formalised. There must also be commensurate protections for these workers.

We support the legalisation of abortion; we deem the decision to rest primarily with the patient seeking abortion. Abortions should be approved by at least two doctors, a General Practitioner and an Obstetrician-Gynaecologist (OBGYN), who would ensure any procedure is safe for the patient.

Abortion services and approval should be streamlined and form an integral part of Jamaica's public health system.

In a republic, Jamaicans should directly elect a President as a head of state with responsibilities including representing the Jamaican people, nominating key posts and holding the executive branch accountable.

We support retaining both Houses of Parliament, but we propose that there be an elected Senate. Slates of candidates would run for Senate and get a seat for every 5% of the votes won; the winning slate would get 5 bonus seats, making for a 25-seat Senate.

We also propose that Presidential and Senate elections be a single process, with slates of candidates starting with their Presidential candidate on top. The President would be a Senator, as would all major political leaders in their respective slates.

The Cabinet should be entirely separate from Parliament. We instead propose that the President nominate the Prime Minister (PM) subject to confirmation by a majority vote in Parliament, and that the PM appoint the rest of Cabinet, also subject to a majority vote. The structure of and qualifications for Cabinet should be set out by law, not the PM's discretion.

MPs in the lower house should be the people's representatives first and foremost. As such, MPs must routinely meet with constituents and represent their views, not just on their Constituency Development Fund but a broad range of issues. Voters should also be able to recall their MPs, with a by-election triggered upon an MP's removal.

Click here to see more on Constitutional Reform.

The Integrity Commission should be free from undue foreign influence. Foreign-funded NGOs should not be appointed to it, and it should be able to expose its findings on secret agreements with foreign governments.

The Integrity Commission must not be gagged. It should be entrusted to comment about ongoing investigations on a case-by-case basis, rather than having to wait to speak in Parliament. When taking on cases involving the security forces, INDECOM should be permitted to collaborate with the Integrity Commission, and the JCF should not be able to force the Integrity Commission to stop an ongoing investigation.

Persons should not be penalised for reporting to the Integrity Commission for making false claims unless they do so knowingly, and it should be made clearer what harmful actions persons are protected from when reporting.

It should also be much easier to blow the whistle on misconduct. As such, the Protected Disclosures Act should be amended to broaden the meaning of "improper conduct", clarify what a "good faith" disclosure is, widen anti-discrimination protections, expand who is authorised to receive disclosures, and presume occupational detriments made after whistleblowing to be punitive.

Our local Jamaican language should be made official, standardised and taught as a first language in schools separately from English. The goal should be for Jamaicans to be fluent in both the Jamaican and English languages. Treating them as distinct will help with language learning, literacy and education at all stages.

Our foreign policy should be in the interests of Jamaica and the region, not of Washington. Jamaica should withdraw from the Organisation of American States (OAS) and consider strengthening the institutions within the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).

We should also lead the formation of a united foreign policy within CARICOM that ends our subservience to Washington and confronts regional challenges.

The government should oppose US intervention, from deployment of US troops in Guyana, to moves to overthrow the Venezuelan government, aggression against Cuba and intervention in Haiti done at its behest.

Globally, we see BRICS as an alternative to relying on the US and its dollar. We also acknowledge Jamaica's recognition of Palestine, and demand the government move further to disclose its deals with 'Israel', condemn the Zionist genocide in Palestine, and cut all ties with 'Israel'.

Before the 2020 General Election, LANDS’ Politburo produced a document laying out our positions on issues ranging from culture and destigmatising politics to housing and rural/land development, workers’ rights and electricity, as well as foreign policy issues like the exchange rate and relations with specific countries.

We also expressed our policy proposals on customs, constitutional reform and invoice delay penalties around contract work.

The document ends with statements about other parties and the prospect of endorsing electoral candidates.

Click here to view our 2020 stances.