Jamaica swears in woman Prime Minister

Political history was made in Jamaica today as the country swore in its first female Prime Minister. In front of six thousand invited guests in Kingston this evening, Portia Simpson-Miller took over leadership of the country from former Prime Minister, P.J. Patterson. Patterson, a politician for thirty years, served as Prime Minister for fourteen, but announced last year that he was retiring at the end of the legislative session. At a separate ceremony today, he officially handed in his resignation to Jamaica’s Governor General. As Patterson did in 1992, the sixty-year old Miller won the People’s National Party’s internal vote to become party leader and therefore the country. Today Belize’s Prime Minister Said Musa joined world leaders in congratulating Miller on her victory. Jamaica’s next parliamentary elections are scheduled for 2007.