Percival Noel James Patterson tells the story of the time he was hosting an Independence Day anniversary reception one night at Vale Royal, the prime minister’s official residence.

A Jamaican woman who was visiting from England walked up to him while he was going around greeting guests, and said “Hi”. The guest engaged him with a “Don’t-I-know-you-from-somewhere?” query.

When she seemed to have had total recall, she smiled triumphantly. “Now I know where I met you. We travelled together from Ocho Rios to Kingston this morning on the same minibus.”

He told her he wasn’t that passenger, but the woman remained confident, insistent, adamant even, in her identification of him. But he wasn’t the least bit offended.

He tells the story with a relish, maybe to illustrate his view that he is a man of the people who, at all times, is recognisable as part of the Jamaican national fabric, so typically Jamaican, that he blends into any demographic scene.

He did not say it, but one got the impression that he wouldn’t be displeased if you read into his recognition appeal that this was one proud black Jamaican.

When, in March 1992, Michael Manley decided to step down as prime minister and president of the People’s National Party (PNP), because of failing health, Patterson was a shoo-in for the job. He was a trusted Manley loyalist of long standing, who had served faithfully and competently, and indeed, was, to all intents and purposes, his heir apparent.

Besides, he was highly qualified professionally and in terms of political and administrative experience.

Distinguished Queen’s Counsel, he had paid his dues in politics and government, having served as member and Leader of Opposition Business in the Senate, member of the House of Representatives, and the PNP’s national election campaign director for the 1972, 1976 and 1989 general elections.

In Manley’s Cabinet, he served as minister of industry and tourism, minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade, deputy prime minister – 1978-80, and 1989-90 – minister of development, planning and production and minister of finance and planning. He was chairman of the PNP from 1983 to 1992.

He was well-liked, amiable and conciliatory, and even the sometimes irascible Carl Stone (of blessed memory), professor of Political Sociology at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, dubbed him “Mr Nice Guy”, although he (Stone), was rooting for his opponent.

So Portia Simpson, Patterson’s opponent then, and would-be successor now, never had a chance, as after Manley left, most members of the Cabinet, the PNP MPs and delegates, simply fell in line behind Patterson.

If he wasn’t everybody’s first choice, he certainly was everybody’s second choice, and the traditionalist he was, he wasn’t going to stray too far from the Manley doctrine, which by then Manley had himself revised. They felt he would pretty much retain the status quo.

Patterson, who was 70 years old on April 10, 2005, started out 14 years ago as a highly-regarded prime minister, topping public opinion polls, not only as a capable minister doing a good job of work, but seen as being approachable, humble and sincere, and whose only agenda was tackling the nation’s business to the benefit of its people.

There were few, if any, conflicts inside his party, certainly not to the degree of even threatening to destablise it. And unlike his opposite number in the JLP, he never once gave anybody the impression that he was the only person, ordained by fate, to lead the PNP.

The Jamaican people identified with him, liked him, trusted him and were confident in his ability to improve their lot, starting with reducing the high cost of living and grappling with other bread-and-butter issues.

His regular “Live-and-Direct” interaction with the citizenry islandwide at townhall meetings boosted his image as being not only a leader in charge, but in touch with his people, as he sought, with their input, to tackle the problems of youth unemployment, the high cost of living, inadequate water supplies, bad roads, crime (then relatively low on the pole of concerns), poor public transportation and sub-standard or non-existent housing, especially for the poor.

Citizens islandwide complained during those years about economic hardships, social problems, poor infrastructure and bad living conditions.

But Patterson went on, not only to complete the election term begun by Manley in 1989, but to lead the PNP to an unprecedented three more consecutive election victories: in 1993, 1997 and 2002, becoming the most successful party leader in Jamaica’s history.

By so doing, the PNP and himself put paid to the pattern, hitherto thought unbreakable, of swapping two successive five-year terms between both major political parties since Universal Adult Suffrage in 1944.

This time the PNP took a quadruple instead, thereby giving itself 17 continuous years as the elected government of Jamaica when Patterson steps down in March 2006, with more than a year to go before the next general election becomes due.

Some people argue that it wasn’t so much that Patterson and the PNP won those elections, but that Seaga and the JLP, beset by almost uninterrupted internecine strife, which over the years threatened to wreck their party, lost them.

But even then, Patterson must have been doing something very, very right to have maintained his and the PNP’s attractiveness to an electorate which often complained about the hardships experienced during those Patterson years.

Patterson hasn’t yet revealed his formula for success (if he actually knows it), but in his farewell speech at the PNP’s 67th annual conference last month, he listed some of his accomplishments, presumably those he is proudest of. (Party papers and manifestos document others):

. Transforming the economy to meet the challenge of globalisation, resulting in an efficiently-functioning foreign exchange market that is free of shortages, where hoarding of foreign exchange is no more and which enjoys the confidence of “our creditors”.

. Foreign reserves at a record level – US$2 billion – “allowing for our import bills to be paid on time, by contrast with the days when frantic efforts had to be made to pay for oil shipments already in our ports.” (He acknowledged that “these reforms involved challenges and caused some pain for sections of the society who were most directly affected by increased competition and loss of markets”, and praised the Jamaican people for understanding “the complex set of issues at work” which caused the government to respond “rather than lament our fate”.)

. The building of new sources of competitive advantage like in information technology and other professional services.

. The building on those industries where we had competitive advantage – tourism, bauxite and alumina, and agro-processing.

“I have been privileged to preside over a great leap forward in the provision of infrastructural development in our country, in information and computer technology, water, roads, seaports and airports, and innovative plans for energy supply”.

. A large portfolio of investment projects under way in tourism, mining, information and computer technology, energy and manufacturing which is getting bigger and bigger… Jamaica is now recognised as a high performer in mobilising investment.

. And, of course, there is Highway 2000, the administration’s highly visible premium project.

The social agenda:

. “In all that we have done, we have been faithful in discharging our responsibility to improve the quality of life of the Jamaican people.”

Education:

. “The administration over which I have presided for the last 14 years has opened this door of opportunity to more Jamaican children than at any previous time.”

Social services:

. Jamaicans now enjoy a life expectancy on par with the most developed countries in the world.

. “We have reformed the social safety net to improve efficiency and effectiveness of social assistance benefits.

. “With the help of the people of goodwill of this country and my search for guidance from the Almighty, I have been privileged to douse the burning flames of political tribalism.

“I have been privileged to ensure:

. “the improvement of government structures;

. the implementation of a world-class electoral system which has received international recognition;

. “the establishment of institutional arrangements for better governance such as the Contractor-General; the National Contracts Committee; the Corruption Prevention Commission; the Access to Information Act;

. “the empowerment of our women by conferring equal constitutional rights, access to Matrimonial Property Rights and protection against domestic violence.

. “I have been privileged to be at the helm as we began the process of reform of our educational transformation.”

Manley, who Patterson succeeded, was a magnetic leader, who with one backward stroke of his silvery hair while standing before a crowd at a political rally at his father’s statue at North Parade, downtown Kingston, at Sam Sharpe Square, Montego Bay, or anywhere else, could draw from them, shouts of acclamation.

He could bring sedate delegates to their feet with his silvery tongue, whether while articulating the plight of the South and the poor and dispossessed at a meeting of Socialist International or the Non-Aligned Movement, or the evils of apartheid in South Africa.

And he has been known to galvanise audiences, whether while articulating the need for a New World Economic Order, the need for indexation of prices or better protection for the region’s sugar, bananas or bauxite, or defending his friendship with his neighbour President Fidel Castro of Cuba.

People still remember him as always speaking out for the poor and seeking to empower them with a slew of social reform programmes designed to uplift the masses.

But Patterson, described as “definitely not charismatic”, a “dull speaker who is not inspiring” and who could hardly be characterised as “exciting”, speaking from a political platform, has somehow always managed to get his message across and to be voted for by his listeners, if not endeared by them.

His supporters praise him for his articulation of issues at regional integration meetings and at summits of the British Commonwealth, before the Group of 77, which Jamaica now chairs, and for his superb skills, negotiating commodity prices and concerns for the African, Caribbean and Pacific grouping.

They praise him for his consultative and non-confrontational leadership style and his practice of seeking dialogue with, and advice from, the captains of industry in matters relating to the economy.

These, they say, have earned him the respect, if not the total co-operation, of the private sector. Patterson confirms this himself:

“I have always operated on the basis that constant dialogue with the people is a most critical component in the engine of a legitimate government. Humility in leadership is a priceless asset.”

Asked about the quality of his leadership, a source who knows him well, quipped: “There must be something in it that I don’t see… But he is very good at organising…”

According to the source, Patterson has in his constituency, a very good team of people (“The Friends of South East Westmoreland”), from the area and from Kingston working with him right through the years, organising the constituency while he is in Kingston.

“His constituency is probably one of the wealthiest in Jamaica,” he added. He described the constituency office as well situated and well-equipped, adding that when Patterson holds his conference and puts out his magazine, it brings in thousands of dollars.

Also, he is reputed to have a phenomenal memory. A former civil servant who has worked with him recalls having seen him attend a meeting at which presentations were made to him by some 20 organisations, lasting over several hours.

Later, after a few hours’ break, when the groupings re-assembled, Patterson responded, without notes, but with accuracy, to each representation or suggestion that the leader of each group had made.

“I was very impressed with it,” the source said.

He remarked that Patterson had become “very careful and very cautious in what he says and what he does. I think maybe it’s the blows he has taken with the Iran controversy and the Shell waiver controversy and the loss of his seat in the 1980 general election.

I think that is one of the reasons he sends everything to committees. Committees can be good, but too much of them is too much.

“But he is a bright, bright man. When I hear him in Parliament dealing with issues off the cuff, I look around and see other people with their mouths open, gaping, wondering if they could do it.

But he has become too cautious in his later year as he doesn’t want to make mistakes. When he is in discussion he is slow in his speech, very careful.”

His legacy?

“He has added to Michael Manley’s international strength where Jamaica is concerned, especially in the Caribbean region, where a lot of the leaders in the last 20 years were UWI people.

Nationally, he has made friends with the top business people, as well as people on the ground, and I think what has happened to the economy is that while it is stable, it has not grown.

Maybe it needs somebody to inspire business people to be more creative. The only people I see doing anything is GraceKennedy… The rest are making money because the money is there to be made…”

Another source attributes Patterson’s “care and caution” to his practice as an advocate.

In a recent speech, Patterson, in a way, summed up the achievements of his administration: “We have presided over an unprecedented period of economic expansion and social transformation, stabilisation of the economy, improvement and growth of infrastructure, widening the avenues of democratic participation of the people in the process of governance; the expansion of the rights and freedoms of citizens for the free flow of information, critical debate and dissent.”

Patterson, in his valedictory speech to the PNP conference on September 11, 2005, remarked:

“I recall making some people uneasy by telling a crowd of supporters during an exciting election campaign that the only difference between themselves and myself should I come down from the speaker’s platform and stand among them, would be opportunity.

“That point needs always to be made. It is not about race or colour. It is about embracing opportunity without losing one’s identity. And I implore comrades who come after me and who remain in the struggle never to forget this.”

Patterson has had 14 years of opportunity (time and circumstances for doing something) as prime minister, to transform the nation into a progressive, patriotic, purposeful society, but what has been his impact on the nation as probably the most influential and powerful person in Jamaica? Did he squander the opportunity he has had these last 14 years?

According to some critics, he had the opportunity, especially at the beginning of his last five-year term in 2002, when he probably decided that he would be giving up the reins of power, to make the really tough, and inherently unpopular decisions to turn this country around, give the people not only a sense of vision but the sense that they are going in the right direction as a nation, and return the country to some measure of sanity. He had nothing to lose.

He wasn’t like other prime ministers who were pre-occupied with their chances of winning a second or a third term.

A source who is sympathetic to Patterson gave this assessment of him: “A problem I find is that he chooses people who have their own agendas, and (they) sheg him up (hurt him). I don’t think he recommends them for these posts, but there are people who assume that because they are friends of his, he is supporting them. I don’t know how they get some of these jobs at these offices.

It embarrasses him, but he doesn’t take any action against them. They all seem to just use him, but he does nothing about it. He doesn’t get rid of anybody”.

But Patterson has been known to talk tough. At the swearing-in of ministers of state and parliamentary secretaries in January 1995, Patterson warned: “I am insisting on performance and accountability; nobody has any sinecure in any office. Performance and accountability will be the measure. Failure to perform will result in… removal.”

(Two weeks before Patterson was appointed prime minister in 1992, having been elected president of the PNP, Professor Stone, commenting on the leadership race between Patterson and Portia Simpson, wrote:

“P J has attracted around him some aggressive black entrepreneurs who feel that under his control of the government black business would come into its own by means fair or foul.

Some are people of integrity, but others among them are get-rich-quick opportunists seeking to plunder government and to become overnight millionaires.

Their argument is that the white man and the brown man have long plundered the system and that it’s ‘black man time now’ to rip off. They believe P J is the man who gives them the best chance to do their thing and some are even expressing their support for him in vulgar, racist terms as if Percival Patterson is our only black politician.”)

To his fans, Patterson is the best prime minister this country has ever seen; they give him 10 out of 10 in every criterion of performance.

Others accuse him, like Britain’s John Major accused himself, of being too conservative, too conventional, of never rocking the boat. They say he has coped and stabilised rather than transformed and innovated and that he has been a 14-year-long promise unfulfilled; that he neither modernised the society nor gave the nation vision, although each prime minister has had his set of problems that are virtually intractable.

They also say that given the time he has been at the helm, he should have steered the country to prosperity and focused on a new vision of hope.

Patterson once said that his granddaughter had pointed to his initials “P J” as meaning “Protect Jamaica”. Some people, who maintain that crime is their number one concern in Jamaica today, say he has not taken her seriously enough. (At election time he drops the ‘J’ and uses the initials ‘PNP’, the ‘N’ for ‘Noel’.)

In some quarters, there is the impression that after all this while, big businesses, certain politicians and their cronies, have benefited from the policy of the Patterson government at the expense of poor people and workers who have been made jobless in redundancies, by the importation of too many goods, not enough exports from which to earn, and too many items on supermarket shelves these days coming mainly from Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados or China, at the expense of Jamaica’s productive capacity. They don’t blame globalisation; they blame the Patterson administration.

“For the 14 years he (Patterson) has been in power, the only thing he has been hands-on on are really things that are extremely irrelevant”, one critic charged.

“Important things will come and you want a reaction from the prime minister and he evades them, and then picks on some little triviality and be a part of that and attends that as if that is important. And then people in some areas of the media hold him up and say, “Yeah man, here is a paragon of commitment and non-cronfrontational. It is ridiculous.”

But Patterson has been known to explain that while he has to be sensitive to a whole range of government activities and other occurrences in communities, he must be selective in what he responds to, so as, for instance, not to appear to be usurping the role of the police.

“Take Highway 2000 (the government’s showpiece project to build a 230-km controlled access toll highway, linking Kingston with Montego Bay and Ocho Rios). Here we are, a grieving Third World country with balance-of-payment problem, with a crime problem. You have an excellent road system, why don’t you fix that first?

“Super new highways are helpful, but helpful to who? Helpful for a few tourists or somebody who wants to go to the North Coast. Why not fix the main core of highways and back roads first, then when you have straightened out the main infrastructure of the country, then you can think about putting in something really grand. And this is the problem I have with Patterson – everything he does is a political grand-standing,” the critic charged.

Some sources believe Patterson announced his retirement too early and is just beginning to regret it. But Patterson, certainly has a sense of timing.

His opponents slurred him on the election campaign trail a few years ago, attempting to label him homosexual. After ignoring the allegation for a time, Patterson, who had been married to the late Shirley Field Ridley (she was a minister of government in Guyana), with whom he had two children who are now adults, ridiculed the suggestion on The Breakfast Club one morning, and it hasn’t surfaced since.

A prime minister’s job is not easy, and for Patterson, a workaholic, it must be doubly hard. But then, he asked for it. He has said that he wants history to remember him as the prime minister who distributed the most land to the people of Jamaica.

He may very well have achieved that goal by now. But he is unlikely to be the prime minister under which Jamaica changed to republic status. One day, he may have Highway 2000 renamed for him, but the Caribbean Court of Justice might not start here during the six months left for his administration to run.

After Margaret Thatcher was ousted after three terms as Britain’s prime minister, she is reported to have remarked, “There was still more that I wanted to do.”

Patterson might very well share those sentiments. But he was so unobtrusive as prime minister that it will take some time before political historians define his true legacy to the nation.