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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.
Sir Vere Cornwall Bird,KNH was the first Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda. His son,Lester Bryant Bird,succeeded him as Prime Minister. In 1994,he was declared a "National Hero".
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.
General elections were held in Antigua and Barbuda on 23 March 2004. The result was a victory for the opposition United Progressive Party (UPP),which defeated the incumbent Antigua Labour Party. Baldwin Spencer,leader of the UPP,replaced Lester Bird as Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda,with Bird being one of eight Labour MPs to lose his seat. Spencer became only the second Prime Minister from outside the Bird family or the Labour Party.
Winston Baldwin Spencer is an Antiguan politician who was the third prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda from 2004 to 2014.
Elections in Antigua and Barbuda take place in the framework of a parliamentary democracy.
Harold Earl Edmund Lovell is a politician from Antigua and Barbuda. He was the Minister of Finance,the Economy and Public Administration. He was also the minister of tourism and civil aviation. He was the Foreign Minister of Antigua and Barbuda from August 2004 to January 2005,when Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer took over those posts in a cabinet reshuffle,giving Lovell his current posts.
The monarchy of Antigua and Barbuda is a system of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign and head of state of Antigua and Barbuda. The current Antiguan and Barbudan monarch and head of state,since 8 September 2022,is King Charles III. As sovereign,he is the personal embodiment of the Crown of Antigua and Barbuda. Although the person of the sovereign is equally shared with 14 other independent countries within the Commonwealth of Nations,each country's monarchy is separate and legally distinct. As a result,the current monarch is officially titled King of Antigua and Barbuda and,in this capacity,he and other members of the Royal Family undertake public and private functions domestically and abroad as representatives of Antigua and Barbuda. However,the King is the only member of the Royal Family with any constitutional role.
Sir George Herbert Walter,KNH was an Antiguan politician of the Progressive Labour Movement and Premier of Antigua and Barbuda from 14 February 1971 to 1 February 1976.
Vere Bird Jr. was an Antiguan lawyer and politician who served as chairman of the Antigua Labour Party (ALP) and a government minister. He was the son of Vere Bird,the former Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda,and brother of Lester Bird,who later held the same position.
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.
Sir Steadroy "Cutie" Olivero Benjamin,KGCN,is an Antiguan lawyer and politician,who is the current minister of Justice and Attorney General of Antigua and Barbuda. He previously served as Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament of Antigua and Barbuda.
Ivor Grenville Theophulus Bird is an Antiguan businessman and the son of Vere Bird,former Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda.
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.
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.
Sir Gerald Owen Anderson Watt KCN KC is an Antiguan politician and a former cabinet minister. Watt represented St. John's Rural East in parliament from 1971 until 1976 and is a former chairman of the Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Commission. Watt has also served as attorney general during his time as Minister of National Security,Labour,and Legal Affairs. Watt has been the Speaker of the House of Representatives since 25 June 2014. He can be considered bipartisan.
Sir John Eugene St. Luce,KGCN,,is an Antiguan politician from the Antigua Labour Party (ALP). He attended the University of London and majored in economics and social sciences. In 1971,he was appointed to the Senate. In 1976,he was elected to the House of Representatives. He was subsequently re-elected until his retirement from active politics in 2004. He held several portfolios in the Cabinet of Antigua and Barbuda:Minister of Agriculture,Home Affairs,Health,Public Works,Public Utilities and Communications and Finance. He lost to Lester Bird when there was a vote for successor of Vere Bird as the chairman of the ALP.
References
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- ↑ "new antigua government sworn in". Xinhua General News Service. May 1, 1980.
- ↑ "New Cabinet for Antigua and Barbuda". BBC Summary of World Broadcasts. BBC. April 23, 1984.
- ↑ "government laboratory opens in antigua and barbuda". The Xinhua General Overseas News Service. October 24, 1986.
- ↑ "Cabinet of Antigua and Barbuda Reshuffled". The Xinhua General Overseas News Service. 1 January 1987.
- ↑ "Antigua-Barbuda: Prime Minister Bird Reshuffles Cabinet". BBC Summary of World Broadcasts. BBC. January 3, 1987.
- ↑ Knox, Paul (August 31, 1987). "Scandal shakes grip of leader in Antigua". The Globe and Mail.
- ↑ "ANTIGUA: ELECTION DAYA MAINLY ONE-SEX-ONLY SHOW". IPS-Inter Press Service. March 13, 1989.
- ↑ "antigua and barbuda cabinet sworn-in". The Xinhua General Overseas News Service. March 13, 1989.
- ↑ Hackett, Charmaine (March 12, 1991). "Antigua and Barbuda: Political Crisis Looms Ahead". IPS-Inter Press Service.
- ↑ "People in Power: Antigua & Barbuda". Cambridge International Reference on Current Affairs. January 1999.
- ↑ "LIAT is Back". Cana Business. February 1, 2000.
- ↑ "Antigua: New deputy prime minister to focus on rebuilding the economy". BBC Summary of World Broadcasts. BBC. September 12, 2002.
- ↑ "Antigua's prime minister gives up finance portfolio, takes public works". Associated Press Worldstream. June 26, 2003.
- ↑ "IMF Delegates - Latin and North America". Euromoney. September 2003.
- ↑ "Council Concludes Successful Congressional Visit to St. Lucia and Antigua and Barbuda". U.S. Newswire. January 20, 2004.
- ↑ Wilson, Mark (March 25, 2004). "Antiguans cheer as election ousts ruling dynasty". The Daily Telegraph.
- ↑ "Antigua: New parliament session opens with swearing-in ceremony". BBC Summary of World Broadcasts. BBC. March 30, 2004.
- ↑ "Antigua: Parliament approves "transitional" budget; Senate still to debate it". BBC Summary of World Broadcasts. BBC. April 8, 2004.
- ↑ James, Colin (October 11, 2005). "Antigua's government sues former prime minister, two ex-officials in alleged illegal land sale". AP Worldstream.
- ↑ "Antigua governor-general appoints new opposition leader". BBC Monitoring Latin America - Political. BBC Worldwide Monitoring. January 5, 2006.
- ↑ "Antigua's ruling party on course for reelection". BBC Monitoring Latin America - Political. BBC Worldwide Monitoring. March 13, 2009.