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The Democratic National Assembly (DNA) is a political party in Trinidad and Tobago. The party is meant to serve as a "third force" is society, providing a "non-tribal" alternative to the ruling United National Congress and the Opposition People's National Movement. The party symbol is a flat topped pyramid.
At present the officers in the party are: Ms Dara Healy- Chairman, Kirk Meighoo- Political Leader Trinidad, Colin Coker- Political Leader Tobago, Hugh Wooding Thomas- Secretary, Stephen Leonce- Strategy and Campaign Director and Anthony Pinto- Special advisor.
The party was launched in March, 2006, founded by political scientist Kirk Meighoo and businessman Anthony Pinto. It was formed after the dissolution of the Committee for Transformation and Progress headed by Meighoo, and incorporated the Civilian Oversight Organisation and other groups. [1]
At first the party was a member of the Democratic National Alliance a coalition of minor parties under the leadership of Gerald Yetming, then Independent, Member of Parliament for St. Joseph. However, in a statement on Thursday 29 June 2006, the Democratic National Assembly said "it had taken a principled decision that it will no longer be pursuing and alliance with either the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) or Mr. Gerald Yetming or the Democratic Party of Trinidad and Tobago (DPTT)", effectively splitting the coalition of the three entities.
On 12 September 2006, two DNA founders, Afra Raymond and Novack George, were expelled from the party.
On 3 October 2006 Meighoo resigned as a UWI lecturer to lead the DNA full-time.
In the 2007 General Elections, the DNA leader Meighoo joined the UNC alliance, and fought the Chaguanas East seat.
In the 5 November 2007 parliamentary elections, the party won 0.01% and no seats. [2]
Patrick Augustus Mervyn Manning was a Trinidadian politician who was the fourth Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago; his terms ran from 17 December 1991 to 9 November 1995 and from 24 December 2001 to 26 May 2010. He was also Political Leader of the People's National Movement (PNM) from 1987 to 2010. A geologist by training, Manning served as Member of Parliament for the San Fernando East constituency from 1971 until 2015 when he was replaced by Randall Mitchell and was the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives. He was the Leader of the Opposition from 1986 to 1990 and again from 1995 to 2001.
The United National Congress is one of two major political parties in Trinidad and Tobago and the current parliamentary opposition. The UNC is a centre-left party. It was founded in 1989 by Basdeo Panday, a Trinidadian lawyer, economist, trade unionist, and actor after a split in the ruling National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR). After spending six years in opposition, the UNC won control of the government in 1995, initially in coalition with the NAR and later on its own. In the 2000 general election, the UNC won an absolute majority in the Parliament. In 2001, a split in the party caused the UNC to lose its parliamentary majority and control of the government. From 2001 to 2010, the UNC was once again Parliamentary Opposition party. In May 2010, the UNC returned to government as the majority party in the People's Partnership. The UNC's Political Leader, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, was sworn in as the first female Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. Kamla Persad-Bissessar was Prime Minister from 2010 until 2015.
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The People's National Movement (PNM) is the longest-serving and oldest active political party in Trinidad and Tobago. The party has dominated national and local politics for much of Trinidad and Tobago's history, contesting all elections since 1956 serving as the nation's governing party or on four occasions, the main opposition. As a result, it has sometimes been referred to as Trinidad and Tobago's "main political party". There have been four PNM Prime Ministers and multiple ministries. The party espouses the principles of liberalism and generally sits at the centre to centre-left of the political spectrum.
The National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) was the governing party in Trinidad and Tobago between 1986 and 1991. The party has been inactive since 2005.
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Trinidad and Tobago elects its House of Representatives on the national level. The head of government, the prime minister, is chosen from among the elected representatives on the basis of his or her command of the support of the majority of legislators. The Parliament of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago has two chambers. The House of Representatives has 41 members, elected for a maximum five-year term in single-seat constituencies. The Senate has 31 members: 16 government senators appointed on the advice of the prime minister, six opposition senators appointed on the advice of the leader of the opposition and nine so-called independent senators appointed by the president to represent other sectors of civil society. The president is elected for a five-year term by an electoral college consisting of the members of both houses of Parliament. Other elected bodies include the local government bodies in Trinidad and the Tobago House of Assembly, which handles local government in the island of Tobago and is entrenched in the constitution.
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