Editing Patrick John

{{Short description|Dominican politician (1938–2021)}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2009}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Patrick Roland John
| honorific-suffix    = 
| image               = 
| office              = 1st [[Prime Minister of Dominica]]
| president           = [[Fred Degazon]]
| deputy              = [[Henckell Christian]]
| term_start          = 3 November 1978
| term_end            = 21 June 1979
| predecessor         = ''Office created''
| successor           = [[Oliver Seraphin]] (interim)
| office2             = [[Premier of Dominica]]
| deputy2             = [[Thomas Etienne]]<br/>[[Henckell Christian]]
| predecessor2        = [[Edward LeBlanc]]
| termstart2          = 28 July 1974
| termend2            = 2 November 1978
| office3              = [[Deputy Premier of Dominica]]
| premier3             = [[Edward Oliver LeBlanc]]
| termstart3           = July 1973
| termend3             = July 1974
| preceded3            = [[Ronald Armour]]
| succeeded3           = [[Thomas Etienne]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|df=y|1938|01|07}}
| birth_place         = [[Roseau]], [[Dominica]]
| death_date          = {{death date and age|df=y|2021|7|6|1938|01|07}}
| death_place         = Roseau, Dominica
| party               = [[Dominica Labour Party]]
| alma_mater          = 
| spouse              = Desiree Johnson
}}

'''Patrick Roland John''' (7 January 1938 – 6 July 2021) was the first [[Prime Minister of Dominica]] as well as its last [[Premier of Dominica|Premier]]. He led Dominica to [[independence]] from the [[United Kingdom]]. He was leader of the [[Waterfront and Allied Workers' Union]] and mayor of [[Roseau]] before being elected to the legislature in 1970. He became Premier in 1974 following the resignation of [[Edward Oliver LeBlanc]].<ref name=":1" /> After mass protest forced him to resign, John unsuccessfully attempted in 1981 to overthrow the government of Prime Minister [[Eugenia Charles]] with the backing of [[white supremacist]] groups (in what became dubbed "[[Operation Red Dog]]").<ref name=":2">{{cite news |title=2 Guilty In New Orleans For Plot On Dominica Invasion |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/06/21/us/2-guilty-in-new-orleans-for-plot-on-dominica-invasion.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 21, 1981}}</ref> As a result, he was jailed for twelve years, of which he served five years.

On 6 July 2021, John died at the Dominica China Friendship Hospital in [[Roseau]], Dominica, at the age of 83.<ref>{{cite news |title=BREAKING: Dominica's first prime minister, Patrick John, dies |url=https://dominicanewsonline.com/news/homepage/news/breaking-dominicas-first-prime-minister-patrick-john-dies/ |work=Dominica News Online |date=July 6, 2021}}</ref>

==Premiership (1974–1978)==
John was elected to the [[House of Assembly of Dominica|House of Assembly]] from Roseau North Electoral District / Roseau North Constituency from 1 November 1970.<ref name="obituary">{{cite web |title=Let history judge Patrick John's failures and successes – Archdeacon Valentine Hodge |url=https://dominicanewsonline.com/news/homepage/news/let-history-judge-patrick-johns-failures-and-successes-archdeacon-valentine-hodge/ |date=30 September 2021}}</ref> He was appointed [[Deputy Prime Minister of Dominica|Deputy Premier]] and [[Minister of Finance (Dominica)|Minister of Finance]] in 1973. After the resignation of [[Edward Oliver LeBlanc|Edward O. LeBlanc]] in 1974, John succeeded him as [[Premier of Dominica]]. The [[Dominica Labour Party|Labour Party]] administration led by John founded [[National Bank of Dominica|Dominica's National Commercial & Development Bank]], and rid the capital city of Roseau of many shanty-type dwellings and replaced them with modern housing developments at Bath Estate and River Estate. John's government also opened a new deepwater harbour at Fond Cole and started the Dominica Social Security system.<ref name=":3" />

However, division grew in Dominica following the murder of a number of tourists in the mid-1970s and the emergence of a [[black power]] movement. John introduced legislation so broadly drawn that it even regulated acceptable modes of dress. Later, he indicated that revolutionary groups would not be tolerated.<ref>{{cite web |title=Index J |url=https://rulers.org/indexj.html}}</ref><ref name=":1" />  His reign as Premier and Prime Minister was regarded as one of the most tumultuous periods in Dominica's history. He was responsible for the infamous Prohibited and Undesirable Societies Act or "[[The Prohibited and Unlawful Societies and Associations Act|Dread Act]]", which was passed in 1974 and was meant to combat the lawlessness of countless Dominican youth.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Prime Ministers of Dominica|url=https://www.thedominican.net/galleries/leaders/john.htm}}</ref> That act made it legal to arrest any "Dread" without a warrant and deny bail to anyone wearing "a badge of the society" i.e. dreadlocks.<ref name=":3">{{cite news |last=Christian |first=Gabriel J. |title=The Rise & Fall of Patrick John |url=http://sundominica.com/articles/the-rise-fall-of-patrick-john-6277/ |work=The Sun Dominica |date=July 7, 2021}}</ref>

==Prime Ministership (1978–1979)==
John became the first Prime Minister of Dominica on 3 November 1978 when the country was granted independence from Britain.<ref name=":0">{{cite web |title=Dominica (1978-present) |url=https://uca.edu/politicalscience/dadm-project/western-hemisphere-region/29-dominica-1978-present/ |website=University of Central Arkansas}}</ref>

John was the honorary commander of Dominica's 80-strong defense force and was in favor of a mixed economy. Internationally, he showed interest in development that saw the island's future linked with the West. One of his first acts after independence was to establish diplomatic relations with [[South Korea]].<ref name=":1">{{cite web |title=Patrick Roland John |url=http://www.caribbeanelections.com/knowledge/biography/bios/john_patrick.asp |website=Caribbean Elections |access-date=2020-09-16 |archive-date=2022-01-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220127170900/http://www.caribbeanelections.com/knowledge/biography/bios/john_patrick.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Crisis phase and resignation===
Sentiment against the Labour Party government led by John continued to grow after the implementation of the [[The Prohibited and Unlawful Societies and Associations Act|Dread Act]]. On 29 May 1979, John's attempts to quell opposition to his leadership led to a clash outside parliament in which a young man named Phillip Timothy and another individual were killed, and a dozen others wounded. Resistance to his rule strengthened as public servants went on strike and the country was completely shut down. The Committee for National Salvation, led by [[Charles Savarin]], called for a [[general strike]] and the resignation of John and the government.<ref name=":0" />

One by one, Labour Party parliamentarians resigned their positions in the cabinet and they were often aided by a rain of stones from protesters. The first Labour Party minister to resign was [[Oliver Seraphin]] who then went on to become interim Prime Minister until elections in July 1980.<ref name=":3" /> On June 11, 1979, President [[Fred Degazon|Frederick Degazon]] fled to Britain. John was voted out of office by the [[House of Assembly of Dominica|House of Assembly]] on June 20, 1979, and the general strike ended the next day.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

==Later political life==
John led the rump Labour Party in the [[1980 Dominican general election|1980 general election]], however, he lost his seat in the [[Dominica House of Assembly]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Europa Year Book 1982 A World Survey Vol.-ii |url=https://archive.org/stream/in.ernet.dli.2015.146912/2015.146912.The-Europa-Year-Book-1982-A-World-Survey-Vol-ii_djvu.txt |date=1982}}</ref> 

[[Dominica Democratic Labour Party]] merged back to Labour Party in 1983, and [[Oliver Seraphin]] was elected party leader and John as his deputy.<ref name="dict">{{cite web |last1=Gunson |first1=Phil |last2=Chamberlain |first2=Greg |last3=Thompson |first3=Andrew |title=The Dictionary of Contemporary Politics of Central America and the Caribbean |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tEJACwAAQBAJ |publisher=Routledge |language=en |date=22 December 2015}}</ref> He was replaced as deputy party leader by Seraphin in 1985.<ref name="dict" /> John was elected again into the House of Assembly from St. Joseph constituency, from 1 July 1985 to 20 February 1986.<ref name="obituary" />

==Coup attempt==
In 1981 John was among seven individuals including former commander of the DDF Major [[Frederick Newton]], who were arrested for alleged plots to overthrow the government. That year there were two attempted [[Coup d'état|coups d'état]]. Disaffected [[Dominica Defense Force]] (DDF) members, aided by a group of Dreads ([[Rastafarians]]) near Giraudel, and foreign mercenaries sought to overthrow the duly elected [[Dominica Freedom Party]] government led by Prime Minister [[Eugenia Charles|Mary Eugenia Charles]]. The attempts at a coup d'état were discovered, thwarted, and the plotters both in Dominica and the United States were exposed.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Phillips |first=Dion |title=The Defunct Dominica Defense Force and Two Attempted Coups on the Nature Island |journal=Caribbean Studies |volume=30 |pages=52–81 |date=2002}}</ref>

Under emergency powers, John and others were arrested in 1981<ref name="dict" /> for their involvement in [[Operation Red Dog]], which had the aim of restoring John to power with the aid of [[Canadians|Canadian]] and [[Americans|American]] citizens, largely affiliated with [[white supremacist]] and [[Ku Klux Klan]] groups.<ref name=":2" /> In court cases which followed, the trial judge found that John was initially released, but the State appealed and the Court of Appeal ordered a new trial to take place. On October 23, 1985, John was found guilty and sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment for conspiring to overthrow the government.<ref>{{cite news |title=Former Dominica Prime Minister Convicted of Treason |url=https://apnews.com/article/7df645f3cde793404ed78b998e3bc759 |publisher=AP News |date=October 24, 1985}}</ref> John was later pardoned by the same Prime Minister Mary Eugenia Charles he sought to overthrow, and he was released from prison on May 29, 1990.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" />

==Sports==
Following his release from prison, John, formerly a member of the [[Dominica national football team]], became a local football administrator. In 1992, he was elected [[President (corporate title)|President]] of the [[Dominica Football Association]] (DFA). Under his leadership the DFA became a [[FIFA]] affiliate in 1994. He served as President until 2006, when he was voted out of office by the local football fraternity. In 2007, he was inducted into the [[CONCACAF]] Hall of Fame. In May 2008, he was re-elected as President of the DFA.<ref>[http://www.antiguasun.com/paper/?as=view&sun=281935077507132005&an=373240099905262008&ac=Sports "John back at helm of football association"], Antiguasun.com, May 27, 2008.</ref> The DFA administrative headquarters is named "Patrick John Football House" in honour of him. In November 2011, John was banned by FIFA from the sport for two years and fined $3,300, for his part in an alleged bribery scheme involving FIFA presidential candidate [[Mohamed bin Hammam]].<ref>{{citation |title=FIFA bans former Dominica PM John, 5 more Caribbean officials in Bin Hammam bribery plot |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/dcunited/fifa-bans-former-dominica-pm-john-5-more-caribbean-officials-in-bin-hammam-bribery-plot/2011/11/18/gIQAMql0XN_story.html |url-status=dead |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |agency=Associated Press |date=18 November 2011 |access-date=19 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190117070039/https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/dcunited/fifa-bans-former-dominica-pm-john-5-more-caribbean-officials-in-bin-hammam-bribery-plot/2011/11/18/gIQAMql0XN_story.html |archive-date=17 January 2019}}.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160307151826/http://archive.nationnews.com/archive_detail.php?archive_pubname=daily+nation%0A%09%09%09&archivefile=2006%2Foctober%2F04%2Fpolitics%2F26973.xml&authorsearch=&begindate=1%2F1%2F1994&enddate=12%2F31%2F2009&includeimages=1&includepages=1&includestories=1&mode=allwords&numper=20&page=&pubsection=&sectionsearch=&start=140 Tull: Tell us about coup rumours], NationNews, 4 October 2006

== See also ==
* [[Luciano Bivar]]

{{S-start}}
{{Succession box|title=[[Premier of Dominica]]|before=[[Edward Oliver LeBlanc]]|after=Himself as Prime Minister| years=July 28, 1974 to November 2, 1978}}
{{Succession box|title=[[Prime Minister of Dominica]]|before=Himself as Premier|after=[[Oliver Seraphin]]| years=November 3, 1978 to June 21, 1979}}
{{S-end}}
{{DominicaPMs}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:John, Patrick}}
[[Category:1938 births]]
[[Category:2021 deaths]]
[[Category:Association football executives]]
[[Category:Deputy prime ministers of Dominica]]
[[Category:Dominica criminals]]
[[Category:Dominica men's footballers]]
[[Category:Dominica Labour Party politicians]]
[[Category:Dominica prisoners and detainees]]
[[Category:Members of the House of Assembly of Dominica]]
[[Category:Ministers of finance of Dominica]]
[[Category:Heads of government who were later imprisoned]]
[[Category:Prime ministers of Dominica]]
[[Category:People convicted of treason]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of Dominica]]
[[Category:Men's association football players not categorized by position]]
[[Category:Dominica people of British descent]]
[[Category:Pardon recipients]]