On March 30, 1992, exactly 25 years ago today, P J Patterson was sworn in as prime minister of Jamaica. A year later, to the day, the People’s National Party (PNP) won a second consecutive term in the general election of March 30, 1993.

Twenty-five years after 1992, Dr Peter Phillips has become president of the PNP and is soon to be the leader of the Opposition.

Today there is a need for the PNP to return to the philosophies and teachings of its first president, Norman Manley, who conceptualised the ideology of the PNP. If Peter Phillips does this, and finds a way to combine it with participation of youth voters, then he might become a very formidable rival to Andrew Holness and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP). In any event, in Jamaica, elections are won on election day.

Initially, the JLP won elections by way of Sir Alexander Bustamante’s charisma, so the PNP had to defend itself by being organised. Norman Manley hired P J Patterson to do organising in 1958, when he was only 23 years old.

In the federal elections of 1958, the West Indies Federal Labour Party won, but its Jamaican affiliate, the PNP, fared badly in Jamaica.

Fearing a one-term Government for the PNP, Norman Manley hired P J Patterson to offset what was looming. When he reported to Manley that there were more PNP supporters than JLP on the voters’ list, Norman Manley called a snap election on July 28, 1959 and won a landslide. The problem today is that, thanks to Patterson’s organisational capabilities, the PNP is today seen as merely an electoral machine and has moved away from its core philosophies.

When Patterson was elected PNP president, some of his detractors in the Opposition rejoiced at his selection as they thought he would be easier to defeat than the popular and charismatic Portia Simpson (as she then was) in an election. But to date, Percival Noel James Patterson is the longest-serving prime minister (14 years), having won three of four consecutive terms for the PNP. At the same time, it is true that the sharp divisions raging within the opposition JLP at the time largely aided Patterson’s electoral success.

During his tenure as prime minister, Patterson met the people with his ‘live and direct’ meetings in different parts of Jamaica. Some historians will perhaps remember the Patterson regime only for the financial meltdown that took place in the 1990s while Omar Davies was the minister of finance. But to be absolutely fair, there were many positives. The complete computerisation of Jamaica, especially with cellphones and computers in schools, took place under the Patterson regime.

Under this regime also came far more housing solutions than ever before, as well as more cars and more highways. The first toll roads were erected during the Patterson regime as well Emancipation Park was built.

Under Patterson’s regime the meaning of the flag was changed from “hardships there are, but the land is green and the sun shineth” to “the land is green, the sun shines and the people are strong and creative” — with the black part of the flag standing for ‘the people’ rather than ‘hardships’. It was wrong to use the same colour of the Jamaican populace to signify hardships. If hardships should be represented in the flag then a red strip signifying the crossing of the Red Sea should have been added.

During Patterson’s tenure as prime minister a values and attitudes campaign was attempted, but with very little success. No matter what opinion one has of P J Patterson, the message was a good one. But many in the society were far more interested in ‘shooting the messenger’ than reading the message. I suspect that a proper values and attitudes campaign might not have been beneficial to those who make financial gains out of an undisciplined society.

When Patterson stepped down 11 years ago, Portia Simpson Miller, who came first in a four-way contest that also included Dr Peter Phillips, succeeded him. The PNP lost the general election of September 2007 to the Jamaica Labour Party and Bruce Golding became prime minister.

In 2008 Phillips challenged Simpson Miller for the post of PNP president and lost. The PNP became disunited after this, but the unity was revived when the JLP Government got into a stand-off in 2009 with the US Government over the extradition of Christopher “Dudus” Coke. Taking advantage of an opportunity, the PNP patched up its internal differences to meet the new political challenges.

The tide turned against Bruce Golding, who subsequently resigned as prime minister in October 2011. The then 39-year-old Andrew Holness was sworn in as prime minister immediately thereafter. Holness called an election one year early and ended up losing by a landslide to the PNP led by Portia Simpson Miller.

In February 2016, the JLP won power, and once again Andrew Holness, by then in his 40s, was sworn in again as prime minister. One year later in 2017, Portia Simpson Miller stepped down as PNP president and has indicated that she will step down as Opposition leader this Sunday.

I am called “the student’s companion” by one of my fans, and in that ‘capacity’ I write the following. Some hold the opinion that the PNP cannot win under Peter Phillips’s leadership. But if that were to happen Phillips would not be the first Opposition leader in Jamaica since Independence not to become prime minister as that already happened twice. Norman Manley was Opposition leader between 1962 and 1969, but was never prime minister. And Dr Kenneth Baugh became Opposition leader when Edward Seaga stepped down. At the time Bruce Golding was not a Member of Parliament. Seaga resigned from parliament and in the subsequent by-election for the West Kingston constituency on April 13 2005 Bruce Golding won. Baugh resigned as Opposition leader and was succeeded by Bruce Golding. So, unless Baugh returns to representational politics from retirement and becomes prime minister, the second Opposition leader in Jamaica not to become prime minister would be Dr Kenneth Baugh.

ekrubm765@yahoo.com