PJ Patterson refused to give his views on the current state of his People’s National Party when he was asked to do so by the Jamaica Observer recently.

However, he remains open to giving advice to whomever, and whichever party or individual needs it … all in the interest of his continued commitment to nation building.

“You not going to get a yes or no from me,” stated Patterson during an interview with the Sunday Observer, and in direct response to whether or not he was impressed with the leadership of the PNP subsequent to his departure as president of the party in 2006.

“I chose a time to retire and to go into the pavilion. In so far as the party is concerned, I have acquired some experience which I think if the party needs it I have an obligation and a willingness to share. If the party doesn’t try to avail itself of that I am not going to try and seek to push anything down anybody’s throat,” said the man who served as prime minister for 14 years from 1992 to 2006.

“I talk about the experience I have gained for the benefit of the party. It also applies to the benefit of the national experience I have acquired for the benefit of the nation, by which I mean, if ever anybody chosen as prime minister or as minister in a particular area where I have served feels that there is something that they want to knock around with me, I’m available. This is not about orange or green, this is about Jamaica. My role now is to contribute whatever I can from the pavilion in a position where I have no intention of ever going back into the political arena,” Patterson said.

When he mooted Vision 2030 towards the back end of his reign as Jamaica’s longest-serving prime minister, Patterson had high hopes for the project which was brought more into focus under an opposing regime — that administered by Bruce Golding. Now, he wants some of those value positions mooted within the package to be re-energised and serve a purpose in the society.

“My aim is to help fulfill the mission of the party and to help realise the vision of the nation. Almost every time I speak I talk about Vision 2030, and there’s a reason why I do it. I initiated Vision 2030. It was completed under the watch of Prime Minister Bruce Golding. It was the subject of the widest possible consultations with all the stakeholders, with all the associations and groups within the society. It represents a vision on the way forward and how we can attain certain defined goals for the nation. It now falls with the competence of the present administration to employ and engage. Anything I can do to that, I have an obligation — and it’s a pleasure and a delight to do it,” Patterson said.