Related Research Articles
The politics of Trinidad and Tobago function within the framework of a unitary state regulated by a parliamentary democracy modelled on that of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,from which the country gained its independence in 1962. Under the 1976 republican Constitution,the monarch was replaced as head of state by a President chosen by an electoral college composed of the members of the bicameral Parliament,consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Couva–Tabaquite–Talparo is one of the nine regions of Trinidad and Tobago,and one of the five regions which form the Gulf of Paria coastline on Trinidad's West Coast. Its regional capital and commercial center is Couva. Couva–Tabaquite–Talparo is the third-largest of Trinidad and Tobago's nine regions,with an area of 723 square kilometres (300 sq mi). As of 2011,the population was 178,410. The region is the second-most populous and fourth-least-densely populated region in Trinidad with 247 inhabitants per square kilometre (640/sq mi).
General elections were held in Trinidad and Tobago on 5 November 2007. Nomination day was 15 October. Five parties contested the elections;the ruling People's National Movement,the official opposition United National Congress–Alliance,the Congress of the People,the Tobago United Front–Democratic Action Congress and the Democratic National Assembly. Five independent candidates also ran.
Keith Christopher Rowley,is a Trinidadian politician serving as the seventh prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago,first elected into office on 9 September 2015 and again following the 2020 general election. He has led the People's National Movement (PNM) since May 2010 and was Leader of the Opposition from 2010 to 2015. He has also served as the Member of the House of Representatives for Diego Martin West since 1991. He is a volcanologist by profession,holding a doctorate in geology,specializing in geochemistry.
Camille Robinson-Regis is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian lawyer and politician,representing the People's National Movement. She was first elected as a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for Arouca South in 1992 and is the current Member of Parliament for Arouca/Maloney. She is the Minister of Planning and Development,the Lady Vice-Chairman of the People's National Movement,and the Leader of Government Business in the House of Representatives.
General elections were held in Trinidad and Tobago on Monday,10 August 2020,to elect 41 members to the 12th Trinidad and Tobago Republican Parliament. It was the 14th election since gaining independence from the United Kingdom in 1962 and the 22nd national election in Trinidad and Tobago ever. Tracy Davidson-Celestine,political leader of the Tobago Council of the People's National Movement (PNM) became the first woman to lead a Tobagonian political party with representation in the House of Representatives. Additionally,two of the three largest parties elected in 2015,the United National Congress (UNC) and the Congress of the People (COP),were led by women.
House of Assembly elections were held in Tobago on 25 January 2021 where 12 members were elected in the eleventh election since the Assembly was established in 1980. This election marked the first time in history that both parties elected,the People's National Movement (PNM) and Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) won an equal number seats of 6-6,despite the PNM winning the popular vote,resulting in a deadlock and a constitutional crisis with both political parties and Prime Minister Keith Rowley seeking senior counsel advice on the way forward. This election was the first time after 20 years in power that the PNM lost its absolute majority. This election also marked the first time a female political leader was elected to the Assembly and the first time a woman led a major political party or a political party with representation in the Assembly,following the 2020 Tobago Council of the People's National Movement leadership election where Health Secretary,councillor and former Trinidad and Tobago Ambassador to Costa Rica and former Deputy Chief Secretary of Tobago Tracy Davidson-Celestine made history by being elected as the PNM's first female political leader at the regional or national level and one of the first bilingual political leaders in the country's history. If Davidson-Celestine and the PNM were to be elected with a majority to their sixth consecutive term in office,she would have made history,becoming the first female Chief Secretary of Tobago. The election was held alongside local by-elections in Trinidad in which the PNM and UNC retained two districts and the PNM losing one to the UNC.
The Tobago Council of the People's National Movement,also known as the Tobago Council of the PNM,PNM Tobago or PNM Tobago Council,is the longest-serving and oldest active political party in Tobago. The party is the autonomous branch of the Trinidad and Tobago People's National Movement operating in Tobago. While its political leader acts in the local capacity,they also serve as a deputy leader on a national level. The party's executives organize for both local and national election campaigns. There have been three PNM Chief Secretaries and administrations.
The 2020United National Congress leadership election was held on Sunday,6 December 2020,after Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar,the current leader of the UNC,faced losses commencing in January 2013 with the wipeout of her People's Partnership-led administration from the Tobago House of Assembly at the 2013 election,loss in the 2015 Trinidad and Tobago general election and loss in the 2020 Trinidad and Tobago general election. The candidates for political leader were incumbent Kamla Persad-Bissessar on Team Star against former member of parliament for St. Augustine and former Minister of Trade,Industry and Investment in the People's Partnership's government,Vasant Bharath,on Team Lotus. Former senator and Minister of Transport in the People's Partnership's government,Devant Maharaj,was an early candidate for political leader,but was never formally nominated as he dropped out on nomination day on the 15th of November 2020,citing irregularities in the voting process. He endorsed Vasant Bharath and Team Lotus. Kamla Persad-Bissessar won with of 87.15% of the votes,while Vasant Bharath got 12.85% of the votes.
Stuart Richard Young is a Trinidad and Tobago politician and an attorney at law,representing the People's National Movement (PNM). He has served as a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for Port-of-Spain North/St. Ann's West since the 2015 general election. He is the current Minister of Energy and Energy Industries and Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister. Young has previously held the posts of Minister of National Security,Minister in the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs and Minister of Communications. Young was awarded Silk and elevated to Senior Counsel on June 20,2024.
The 2022 People's National Movement leadership election, the last one for the PNM before the subsequent general election,took place over three days:November 26 and 27 and December 4,2022. The current party leader and Prime Minister Keith Rowley had indicated he would most likely not seek to lead the party into the next general election. Rowley made these comments in his victory speech on the night of the 2020 Trinidad and Tobago general election,where the PNM secured a second mandate under his leadership but with the slimmest majority for a government in two decades. However,he announced that he would seek another term as the party's leader in October 2022. In the 2020 general election campaign,he indicated that he would have stood down had the PNM lost. The election followed the 2022 Tobago Council of the People's National Movement leadership election. Keith Rowley won re-election by an overwhelming majority with a low voter turnout with 9,111 out of 105,894 eligible party members voting.
Arima is a parliamentary electoral district in Trinidad and Tobago in the north of Trinidad,including part of the borough of Arima. It is currently represented by Pennelope Beckles.
La Horquetta/Talparo is a parliamentary electoral district in Trinidad and Tobago in the centre of Trinidad. It has been represented since 2020 by Foster Cummings of the People's National Movement.
Shamfa Ashaki Cudjoe is a Trinidad and Tobago politician representing the People's National Movement. She has served as a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for Tobago West since the 2015 general election. She is the current Minister of Sport and Community Development.
Elections for the leadership of the Tobago Council of the People's National Movement were on April 24,2022. For the second time,a one member,one vote voting system was adopted for all 17 positions contested since being implemented in the last election. The winner automatically became a deputy leader of the PNM at the national level. This election preceded the leadership election of the party at the national level in the 2022 People's National Movement leadership election.
Brian Manning is a Trinidad and Tobago politician representing the People's National Movement (PNM). He has served as a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives for San Fernando East since the 2020 general election. He is the current Minister in the Ministry of Finance.
Tabaquite is a parliamentary electoral district in Trinidad and Tobago in the south-west of Trinidad. It has been represented since the 2020 general election by Anita Haynes of the United National Congress.
D'Abadie/O'Meara is a parliamentary electoral district in Trinidad and Tobago in the center of Trinidad. It has been represented since the 2020 general election by Lisa Morris-Julian of the People's National Movement (PNM).
The 2023 Trinidadian local elections were held on Monday,August 14,2023,across all 141 electoral districts in Trinidad's 14 municipal corporation electoral areas. The elections follow a 3-2 ruling on May 18,2023,from the United Kingdom's Judicial Committee of the Privy Council,the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago's highest court of appeal,which stated that the government's one-year extension of the mandate of councillors and alderman was unlawful. The matter was brought before the Law Lords of the Privy Council by Ravi Balgobin Maharaj,and his legal team led by Anand Ramlogan,SC. The legal action taken by Ravi Balgobin Maharaj was necessary after the PNM government decided to extend the election by one year,which the Privy Council ruled was inconsistent with the rule of Democracy. The judgement handed down to Ravi Balgobin Maharaj by the Law Lords was a landmark ruling in the Commonwealth and marks the first time that a Court upheld the rights of citizens to vote in a Local Government Election.
References
- 1 2 3 4 "The Honourable Foster Cummings". Trinidad and Tobago Parliament. Archived from the original on 31 May 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
- ↑ Parsanlal, Nneka (23 July 2020). "PNM Fosters hope in La Horquetta/Talparo". Loop News. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
- 1 2 3 4 Taitt, Ria (27 July 2020). "Unfazed by Jearlean". Trinidad Express . Archived from the original on 30 April 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
- 1 2 3 "The Honourable Foster Cummings, MP". Ministry of Youth Development and National Service. Archived from the original on 9 January 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
- ↑ "Mr. Foster Cummings". People's National Movement. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
- ↑ "The Honourable Foster Cummings". Trinidad and Tobago Government News. Archived from the original on 9 January 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
- ↑ Parsanlal, Nneka (31 December 2019). "Gov't announces cabinet reshuffle: PM new Planning Minister". Loop News. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
- ↑ "Cummings sworn in as Parliamentary Secretary, says he's ready to work". Loop News. 2 January 2020. Archived from the original on 27 January 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2022.