KINGSTON, Jamaica — Today marks 20 years since the passing of Jamaica’s fourth Prime Minister Michael Manley. The People’s National Party (PNP), which he was the second president of, has issued a statement in remembrance of the leader. 

Full statement below:

On March 6, 1997 Jamaicans said goodbye to one of the most impactful leaders of post-independent Jamaica, Michael Norman Manley, ON, OCC, PC. 

 His contribution as prime minister between 1972 – 1980 and 1989 – 1992 was amongst the most transformative period in Jamaica’s political history.  

As a man with a background in trade unionism, Manley felt the struggles of the working class and dedicated his life, and that of his political party to uplift all Jamaicans regardless of race, colour, class or creed.  

Today, the People’s National Party remembers him not only as the fourth prime minister of Jamaica or the second president of the People’s National Party but as hero who championed the cause of equality of opportunity and social justice.

We recall that it was under the Michael Manley’s government that ordinary Jamaicans got equal access to education (up to the tertiary level) and health care free of charge.  

It was under his leadership that Maternity Leave with Pay, Minimum Wage, JAMAL (now JFLL), National Youth Service, National Housing Trust, Labour Relations and Industrial Disputes Act, Land Lease, Pioneer Corps, Status of Children Act, the Bauxite Levy and a raft of other social legislation and programmes were introduced.  

Michael Manley was a champion of the downtrodden and oppressed, not only in Jamaica but also in the developing world and so he championed their cause on the international stage as well. 

The People’s National Party salutes Michael Manley and thanks him for his enormous contribution to the development of modern Jamaica.  Walk good Comrade Manley.