Jamaica's First Woman PM Takes Office

This hemisphere is getting more and more progressive all the time, especially when electing women leaders.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060330/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/jamaica_prime_minister_1

Jamaica's First Woman PM Takes Office

By HOWARD CAMPBELL, Associated Press WriterThu Mar 30, 4:17 AM ET

Jamaica's first woman prime minister takes office Thursday, pledging to tackle a crime rate that has made the Caribbean island one of the most dangerous places in the world.

Portia Simpson Miller, a longtime parliament member who represented some of Jamaica's poorest neighborhoods, faces high expectations for change as she succeeds P.J. Patterson, who stepped down as prime minister after 14 years on the job.

"Because she's a woman from the grass roots the expectation is higher and it's going to be tough," said Rupert Lewis, a political science professor at the University of the West Indies in Kingston.

Simpson Miller, known as Sista P., beat three opponents to take over leadership of the ruling People's National Party last month. Patterson had led his party to three consecutive election victories, the most recent in 2002. But his administration was dogged by corruption allegations, a lagging economy and a homicide rate 10 times that of the United States.

I do like the fact that she promises to focus on crime.