The Turks and Caicos Islands are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands,two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and northern West Indies. They are known primarily for tourism and as an offshore financial centre. The resident population in July 2021 was put at 57,196,making it the third-largest of the British overseas territories by population.
Communications in the Turks and Caicos Islands
Michael Eugene Misick is a Turks and Caicos Islander politician who was the 7th Chief Minister of the Turks and Caicos Islands from 15 August 2003 to 9 August 2006 and was the 1st Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands from 9 August 2006 to 23 March 2009. Misick is a member of the Progressive National Party (PNP),and became chief minister when his party,after eight years as the opposition party,gained two parliamentary seats in by-elections. In addition to being premier,he was also the minister for Civil Aviation,Commerce and Development,Planning,District Administration,Broadcasting Commission,Tourist Board,Turks and Caicos Investment Agency,and Tourism. Several other members of Misick's family have been politicians in the Turks and Caicos Islands,and important leaders in the PNP. Washington Misick,his brother,is the current Premier,former Chief Minister and former Minister of Finance.
Before European colonization,the Turks and Caicos Islands were inhabited by Taino and Lucayan peoples. The first recorded European sighting of the islands now known as the Turks and Caicos occurred in 1512. In the subsequent centuries,the islands were claimed by several European powers with the British Empire eventually gaining control. For many years the islands were governed indirectly through Bermuda,the Bahamas,and Jamaica. When the Bahamas gained independence in 1973,the islands received their own governor,and have remained a separate autonomous British Overseas Territory since. In August 2009,the United Kingdom suspended the Turks and Caicos Islands' self-government following allegations of ministerial corruption. Home rule was restored in the islands after the November 2012 elections.
Politics of the Turks and Caicos Islands takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic dependency,whereby as of August 9,2006 the Premier is the head of government,and of a multi-party system. The islands are an internally self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom. The United Nations Committee on Decolonization includes the Turks and Caicos Islands on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Legislative Council.
The Progressive National Party is a political party in the Turks and Caicos Islands,currently led by Washington Misick. The PNP holds 14 of the 15 seats in the House of Assembly and has been the government since 20 Feb 2021.
Charles Washington Misick is a Turks and Caicos Islander politician who has been the 5th Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands since 20 February 2021. He has been the leader of the Progressive National Party since 20 December 2016. He previously served as the 5th Chief Minister of the Turks and Caicos Islands from 3 April 1991 to 31 January 1995,was Minister of Finance,Trade and Investment from 2012 to 2016 and Leader of the Opposition from 1995 to 2003 and again from 2016 to 2021. Misick has been a MHA for the All Island District since November 2012 and was previously an MHA for Grand Turk from 1991 to 1999.
Ariel Misick is a Turks and Caicos Islands politician and former minister of development and commerce. He served on a four-member interim Advisory Council from July 1986 to 3 March 1988 after two previous Chief Ministers were forced to resign and ministerial government in the territory was suspended. He is now a partner at the law firm of Misick &Stanbrook. Misick was a member of the National Democratic Alliance.
The Turks and Caicos Islands are divided into five administrative districts,and the Island of Grand Turk;four of these are headed by District Commissioners,and Providenciales District is run by the Permanent Secretary of the Office of the Premier in Providenciales. The Island of Grand Turk is directly administered by the TCI Government.
General elections were held in the Turks and Caicos Islands on 9 February 2007. The result was a victory for the ruling Progressive National Party (PNP),which won thirteen of the fifteen seats in the House of Assembly. PNP leader Michael Misick remained Premier.
The Honourable Galmo "Gilley" Williams is a Turks and Caicos Islander politician who served as the 2nd Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands from 23 March 2009 to 14 August 2009.
General elections were held in Turks and Caicos Islands on 9 November 2012. The PNP won the election,winning eight seats with the PDM winning seven. The PNP won most of its seats by narrow margins over the PDM,while the PDM won its seats by wide margins over the PNP,with the result that despite winning fewer seats and thereby losing the election,the PDM garnered more overall votes nationwide.
The Director of Public Prosecutions is an officer of the Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands whose role is to prosecute criminal offences. The role was newly created by the 2011 Constitution.
The Cabinet of the Turks and Caicos Islands comprises the ministers who advise the governor on government affairs. It was known as the Executive Council under the 1988 Constitution,and was given its current name in the 2006 Constitution. The Cabinet was disbanded in 2009 when self-government in the Turks and Caicos Islands was suspended. It was reconstituted after the 2012 election.
The Constitution of the Turks and Caicos Islands,in its present form,was passed in 2011.
Sharlene Linette Cartwright-Robinson JP is a Turks and Caicos Islander politician and lawyer who served as the 4th Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands from 20 December 2016 to 20 February 2021. She was the territory's first female premier. She was also the first woman to become first,deputy head,and then,head of the People's Democratic Movement (PDM).
Rosita Beatrice Missick-Butterfield,was a Turks and Caicos Islander who served as the first woman Member of Parliament and Speaker of the House of Assembly of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
General elections were held in Turks and Caicos Islands on 15 December 2016. The result was a victory for the People's Democratic Movement (PDM),with Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson becoming the islands' first female Premier. Following the election outgoing Prime Minister Rufus Ewing resigned as Progressive National Party (PNP) leader and quit politics.
General elections were held in the Turks and Caicos Islands on 3 April 1991. The result was a victory for the opposition Progressive National Party (PNP),which won eight of the thirteen seats in the Legislative Council. Following the elections,PNP leader Washington Misick became Chief Minister.
The second W. Misick ministry began on 24 February 2021,four days after Washington Misick was sworn in by Governor Nigel Dakin where he invited him to form a new administration following the 2021 general election,in which the Progressive National Party was voted into power with a supermajority of 14 seats in the House of Assembly. Misick led government once before after the 1991 general election.
