P. J. Patterson

Early life and education

Patterson was born on 10 April 1935 .Patterson's parents were Henry Patterson, a farmer, and Ina James, a primary school teacher, who both hailed from the Hanover Parish in western Jamaica. He received his secondary education at Kingston's Calabar High School, and pursued higher studies at the University College of West Indies and later the London School of Economics.

As an undergraduate at the University of the West Indies (UWI), he served as Chairman of UWI'S External Affairs Commission, where he gained exposure to world leaders and international political thought through attendance at a number of international student fora. It was also at UWI that he became committed to Caribbean regionalism and to the causes of countries of the developing world. In 1958, he graduated with a B.A. (Honours) in English.

Patterson led efforts to strengthen the country's social protection and security systems—a critical element of his economic and social policy agenda to mitigate, reduce poverty and social deprivation.

In the 1997 Jamaican general election, Patterson led the PNP to a third consecutive victory, breaking the "third-term barrier". The PNP won 50 of the 60 seats available. allowing the country greater latitude in pursuit of its economic policies. In 2002, when Patterson led the PNP to another general election victory, but with a much-reduced majority of 34 out of 60 seats. He became the first Jamaican prime minister to be sworn in for a fourth consecutive term. Patterson had long supported moves to make Jamaica a republic, but he was unsuccessful in this aim, as Jamaica is still a monarchy. In 2012, he expressed his frustration that a republic had still not come into being

He made international headlines in 2004 when, as Chairman of CARICOM, he led the regional organization in the decision to refuse recognition of the Gérard Latortue government in Haiti following the removal of the democratically elected Jean-Bertrand Aristide from office. Patterson arranged for Aristide to take up temporary residence in Jamaica during Aristide's lawsuit against the United States and France accusing the countries of kidnapping him.

In one of his final initiatives as Prime Minister, he launched a program of radical transformation of the island's education system aimed at development of quality human capital equipped to succeed in the competitive global economy. In addition, Patterson presided over a significant decline in poverty during his time in office.

Patterson retired as prime minister on 30 January 2006, and he was succeeded as PM by Portia Simpson-Miller. He was succeeded as MP by Luther Buchanan.

Post-premiership

Following his premiership, from 2006 to 2007, he chaired the Committee on Commonwealth Membership, which presented its report on potential changes in membership criteria for the Commonwealth of Nations at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2007 in Kampala, Uganda.

International service

Patterson is a member of the Club of Madrid, a group that consists of more than 100 former presidents and prime ministers of democratic countries, which works to strengthen democracy and democratic leadership worldwide.

Patterson has contributed to numerous Conventions and Statements in the international arena including the Valletta Statement on Multilateral Trade and the Gozo Statement on Vulnerable Small States. These have helped to shape north–south relationship and influence the negotiating position of developing countries.

He is a member of the Global Leadership Foundation, an NGO composed of a number of former statesmen, ex-presidents and prime ministers founded in 2004 by former State President of South Africa and Nobel Prize laureate, the late F. W. de Klerk. The Global Leadership Foundation is an organization which works to support democratic leadership, prevent and resolve conflict through mediation and promote good governance in the form of democratic institutions, open markets, human rights and the rule of law. It does so by making available, discreetly and in confidence, the experience of former leaders to today's national leaders. It is a not-for-profit organization composed of former heads of government, senior governmental and international organization officials who work closely with Heads of Government on governance-related issues of concern to them.

He played a seminal role in the process that marked the transition from the first steps in integration of the Caribbean region to the founding of CARIFTA and its evolution into CARICOM. He drew upon his expertise in law and trade, to steer the regional body toward the development of a Caribbean jurisprudence through the Caribbean Court of Justice, and a borderless regional economy through the CARICOM Single Market, which came to fruition in 2005 and 2006 respectively.

During his tenure as Jamaica's foreign minister he served as president of the ACP/EU Ministerial Council and led negotiations for the ACP group of countries with the European Community. As chairman of the ACP/EEC Ministerial Conference, he played a pivotal role in forging an agreement on the basic framework for the original Lomé Convention, which influenced the outcome of subsequent negotiations that led to the Convention signed in 1975. He has served as president and spokesman of the ACP Ministerial Council on a number of occasions.

A passionate opponent of apartheid, he was an ardent proponent of South Africa's liberation movement.

Memberships and awards

Upon becoming the prime minister of Jamaica in 1992, Patterson was invested with the Order of the Nation, allowing him to be known as "The Most Honourable" and to use the post-nominal letters "ON".

In 2006, he was invested with the Order of Excellence of Guyana, allowing him to use the post-nominal letters "OE". On 2 July 2009 he invested with the Order of the Caribbean Community allowing him to use the post-nominal letters "OCC".

On 13 April 2022, Patterson resigned as a Privy Council member.