Gaston Browne | |
---|---|
4th Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda | |
Assumed office 13 June 2014 | |
Monarchs | Elizabeth II Charles III |
Governors‑General | Louise Lake-Tack Rodney Williams |
Preceded by | Baldwin Spencer |
Chairman of the Caribbean Community | |
In office 1 July 2021 [1] –31 December 2021 [1] | |
Secretary-General | Irwin LaRocque Carla Barnett |
Preceded by | Keith Rowley |
Succeeded by | Johnny Briceño |
In office 1 July 2014 [2] –31 December 2014 | |
Secretary-General | Irwin LaRocque |
Preceded by | Ralph Gonsalves |
Succeeded by | Perry Christie [3] |
Member of Parliament for St. John's City West | |
Assumed office 9 March 1999 | |
Preceded by | Donald Halstead |
Leader of the Opposition | |
In office December 2012 –June 2014 | |
Preceded by | Lester Bird |
Succeeded by | Baldwin Spencer |
Personal details | |
Born | Gaston Alfonso Browne 9 February 1967 Villa,British Antigua and Barbuda |
Political party | Labour Party |
Spouse | Maria Bird-Browne |
Education | City Banking College University of Manchester |
Gaston Alfonso Browne (born 9 February 1967) is an Antiguan politician serving as the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda and leader of the Labour Party since 2014. Before entering politics,he was a banker and businessman.
Browne was born on 9 February 1967,days before the Associated State of Antigua was established,in the Villa area on the twin island of Antigua and Barbuda. [4] [5] His life as a teenager was extremely tough. As a child,he lived in Point with his paternal great-grandmother,who was in her eighties,at the time,partially blind,poor and aging. After her passing,he later grew up in Point,another impoverished area. [4]
After completing his secondary education,Browne attended the City Banking College in the United Kingdom,where he graduated with a BSc in banking and finance. Later,he attended the University of Manchester,acquiring an MBA in Finance. [6] [7] [8]
Following graduation,Browne secured a position with the Swiss American Banking Group,a major banking consortium in Antigua and Barbuda,comprising offshore and onshore banks and a trust company,eventually rising to the position of Commercial Banking Manager.
He entered the political arena in 1999 when he was elected to parliament for the constituency of St. John's City West. He was appointed Minister of Planning,Trade,Industry,Commerce and Public Service Affairs in his first term as an MP.[ citation needed ]
Browne challenged and defeated Lester Bird in the leadership race for Labour Party in November 2012 with a margin of 213 to 180. He was subsequently appointed as leader of the opposition in December 2012. [9]
Gaston Browne led the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party to victory in the 12 June 2014 general election,after 10 years in opposition,winning 14 out of 17 seats. Browne was sworn in as Prime Minister on 13 June 2014. [10] He defeated Baldwin Spencer's UPP,which had ruled for 10 years. Browne holds the additional office of Minister of Finance. [11]
On 6 September 2017 Hurricane Irma swept through Barbuda. Gaston Browne stated that the Category 5 storm had destroyed 95% of the structures and vehicles. [12] Initial estimates showed that at least 60% of the island's residents were homeless because of the disaster. [13] All communications with Barbuda were completely down for a time;most of the communications system had been destroyed. [14]
On 8 September 2017,Browne described the situation as follows during an interview. "Barbuda right now is literally a rubble" with no water or phone service;he said there had been only a single fatality. [15] The government had almost completed the evacuation of the entire island;nearly 1,800 people were transferred to Antigua. [16]
On the same day,the first of three cargo planes arrived from the US,with over 120,000 pounds of relief for Barbuda. The cost was covered by the Government of Antigua and Barbuda and by donations from Martin Franklyn and the Coleman Company in the US. [17] Also on 8 September,Browne discussed Barbuda's urgent needs with Administrator Mark Green of the United States Agency for International Development. USAID had already sent a Disaster Assistance Response Team and would continue to coordinate with the government and relief organizations. [18]
Browne's government was facing a massive challenge. An estimate published by Time indicated that over $100 million would be required to rebuild homes and infrastructure. Philmore Mullin,Director of Antigua and Barbuda's National Office of Disaster Services,said that "all critical infrastructure and utilities are non-existent –food supply,medicine,shelter,electricity,water,communications,waste management". He summarised the situation as follows:"Public utilities need to be rebuilt in their entirety ... It is optimistic to think anything can be rebuilt in six months ... In my 25 years in disaster management,I have never seen something like this." [19]
During a visit by the Earl and Countess of Wessex for the celebration of Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee,Browne asked the Earl if the couple would use their diplomatic influence to support reparations for slavery to Caribbean Community nations and announced that his country will transition to a republic. [20] Following the death of the Queen,Browne announced that he would call for a referendum on the country becoming a republic within three years. In an interview for ITV,he stated "This is not an act of hostility or any difference between Antigua and Barbuda and the monarchy,but it is the final step to complete that circle of independence,to ensure that we are truly a sovereign nation." and added that the country would remain a member of the Commonwealth regardless of the outcome. [21]
Browne is married to Maria Bird-Browne,niece of the second Prime Minister Lester Bird. [22] The couple have a son,Prince Gaston Browne, [7] who was Browne's fourth child,as he had three children prior to marriage. They had a second child,a daughter,in September 2020. [23]
Antigua and Barbuda is a sovereign island country in the Caribbean. It lies at the conjuncture of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean in the Leeward Islands part of the Lesser Antilles.
The politics of Antigua and Barbuda takes place in a framework of a unitary parliamentary representative democratic monarchy,wherein the sovereign of Antigua and Barbuda is the head of state,appointing a governor-general to act as vice-regal representative in the nation. A prime minister is appointed by the governor-general as the head of government,and of a multi-party system;the prime minister advises the governor-general on the appointment of a Council of Ministers. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of the Parliament. The bicameral Parliament consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The history of Antigua and Barbuda covers the period from the arrival of the Archaic peoples thousands of years ago to the present day. Prior to European colonization,the lands encompassing present-day Antigua and Barbuda were inhabited by three successive Amerindian societies. The island was claimed by England,who settled the islands in 1632. Under English/British control,the islands witnessed an influx of both Britons and African slaves migrate to the island. In 1981,the islands were granted independence as the modern state of Antigua and Barbuda.
Sir Lester Bryant Bird was an Antiguan politician and athlete who served as the second prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda from 1994 to 2004. He was chairman of the Antigua Labour Party (ALP) from 1971 to 1983,then became prime minister when his father,Sir Vere Bird,the previous prime minister,resigned.
The Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) is a political party in Antigua and Barbuda. The current leader of the party is Gaston Browne,who serves as the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda. The party had previously been led by Lester Bird,who was chairman of the party since 1971,and was Prime Minister and political leader in 1994.
Winston Baldwin Spencer is an Antiguan politician who was the third prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda from 2004 to 2014.
The following is a list of heads of government of the members states of CARICOM:
Asot Michael is an Antiguan politician and a Member of the Parliament of Antigua and Barbuda,elected from Saint Peter Constituency. He was also the Minister of Tourism,Economic Development,Investment and Energy under Prime Minister Gaston Browne. He was formerly a member of the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party.
Sir Molwyn Joseph,KGCN,is an Antiguan politician and Chairman of the Antigua Labour Party (ALP). First entering politics in 1984 when he was made a Minister without Portfolio in the government of Vere Bird,Joseph became Minister of Finance seven years later,renegotiating the Antiguan national debt and introducing fiscal reforms. After a 1996 scandal in which it was discovered he had used his position to import a 1930s Rolls-Royce for a friend,bypassing normal import duties and taxes,he was dismissed from the Bird administration,returning 14 months later to serve as Minister for Planning,Implementation and the Environment. Following the 1999 general election,he became Minister of Heath and Social Improvement before being made Minister of Tourism and the Environment a few months later. As Minister,Joseph attempted to improve the perception of Antigua as a tourist destination and invest in the industry,spending 2 million US dollars increasing the number of hotel rooms on the island and providing money for both Air Jamaica and Air Luxor to provide flights to the island.
General elections were held in Antigua and Barbuda on 12 June 2014. The result was a victory for the opposition Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party led by Gaston Browne,which won 14 of the 17 seats. Following the election,Browne became the country's youngest Prime Minister.
The Barbuda Land Acts establishes that the citizens of Barbuda communally own the land. The act specifies that residents must provide consent for major development projects on the island. The Government of Antigua and Barbuda passed the act on January 17,2008.
General elections were held in Antigua and Barbuda on 21 March 2018 to elect members to House of Representatives of the 15th Antigua and Barbuda Parliament. Each of the 17 constituencies elected one Member of Parliament (MP).
Antigua and Barbuda and Mexico are members of the Association of Caribbean States,Organization of American States and the United Nations.
The University of the West Indies at Five Islands is a public research university in Five Islands,Antigua and Barbuda. It is the newest of 5 general campuses in the University of the West Indies system.
Maria Vanessa Bird-Browne is a politician in Antigua and Barbuda. She was elected as a member of the House of Representatives for St. John's Rural East in the Parliament of Antigua and Barbuda in 2018,becoming the youngest lawmaker in the country and the youngest female member of parliament across the Commonwealth. She is the country's minister for housing,lands,and urban renewal.
Trevor Myke Walker is a Barbudan politician,current member of parliament for Barbuda,and former Cabinet Minister under the Baldwin Spencer administration. He is a member of the Barbuda People's Movement,a party that seeks the independence of Barbuda from Antigua and Barbuda.
Squatting in the island country of Antigua and Barbuda in the West Indies is the occupation of unused land or derelict buildings without the permission of the owner. Historically,native Barbudans were seen as squatters and after Hurricane Irma in 2017,Prime Minister Gaston Browne offered people he termed squatters the chance to buy their land.
General elections were held in Antigua and Barbuda on 18 January 2023 to elect members of the House of Representatives. The Labour Party (ABLP) has held an absolute majority of 15 seats in the House of Representatives after the 2018 general election,with Gaston Browne remaining as prime minister. Browne initiated a constitutional referendum after the 2018 election,which was rejected by voters,and following the death of Elizabeth II in 2022,he announced his intention to organise a referendum for the transition of Antigua and Barbuda to a republican system. Besides ABLP,the United Progressive Party (UPP),Democratic National Alliance,Barbuda People's Movement (BPM),and three independent politicians filed candidacies for the 2023 general election.
Gail Christian is an Antiguan and Barbudan politician and senator. She is a senator of the Upper House of Parliament in Antigua and Barbuda. She was appointed senator by Prime Minister Gaston Browne.
Royal tours of Antigua and Barbuda by its royal family have been taking place since the 20th century. Elizabeth II,Queen of Antigua and Barbuda,visited the country thrice:1966,1977,and 1985.