Patteson Oti

Who is Patteson Oti?

John Patteson Oti, sometimes called Patterson Oti, is a Solomon Islands politician and diplomat. He was Minister for Foreign Affairs, External Trade and Immigration from May 2006 to 22 December 2007. He is the secretary general of the Ownership, Unity and Responsibility Party, which was launched in early 2010. Since March 2012, he has been his country's High Commissioner to Fiji.

Oti was a desk officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1983 to 1990 and a Provincial Secretary for the Ministry of Provincial Government from 1991 to 1993. He was a political analyst for the government of Prime Minister Francis Billy Hilly in 1994, and from 1995 to 1997 he was special secretary to the Leader of the Opposition.

He was first elected to the National Parliament of the Solomon Islands for Temotu Nende Constituency in the August 1997 parliamentary election, and under Prime Minister Bartholomew Ulufa'alu he served as Minister for Foreign Affairs from August 1997 to June 2000. In the December 2001 election, he was re-elected to his seat, and he served as Leader of the Opposition Group in Parliament from December 2001 to May 2003. He was also a member of the Public Accounts Committee from 2000 to 2001 and was the Committee's Chairman in 2002.