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The history of Trinidad and Tobago begins with the settlements of the islands by Indigenous First Peoples. Trinidad was visited by Christopher Columbus on his third voyage in 1498,,and claimed in the name of Spain. Trinidad was administered by Spanish hands until 1797,but it was largely settled by French colonists. Tobago changed hands between the British,French,Dutch,and Courlanders,but eventually ended up in British hands following the second Treaty of Paris (1814). In 1889,the two islands were incorporated into a single political entity. Trinidad and Tobago obtained its independence from the British Empire in 1962 and became a republic in 1976.
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.
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 the 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.
Arthur Napoleon Raymond Robinson,was a Trinidadian politician who was the third president of the country,serving from 19 March 1997 to 17 March 2003. He was also Trinidad and Tobago's third prime minister,serving in that capacity from 18 December 1986 to 17 December 1991. He is recognized for his proposal that eventually led to the founding of the International Criminal Court.
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. It is one out of the country's two main political parties. 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.
The Organisation for National Reconstruction (ONR) was a political party in Trinidad and Tobago. The party received the second-highest number of votes in the 1981 general elections,but failed to win a seat. Prior to the 1986 elections it merged into the new National Alliance for Reconstruction.
Karl Terrence Hudson-Phillips,ORTT,QC was an Attorney-General of Trinidad and Tobago and a judge of the International Criminal Court. He was also lead counsel in the murder trial of Grenadian Prime Minister Maurice Bishop.
The Tobago House of Assembly (THA) is a unicameral devolved legislative body responsible for the island of Tobago within the unitary state of Trinidad and Tobago. The THA was re-established in 1980 to rectify some of the disparities in the relationship between the two islands;a prior body of the same name existed from 1768 to 1874. In addition to the normal local government functions,the THA handles many of the responsibilities of the central government,but has limited ability to collect taxes and to impose local law or zoning regulations. At the helm of the Assembly Legislature is the Presiding Officer with the fifteen elected assemblymen,and four appointed councillors. Three of the councillors are appointed on the advice on the Chief Secretary and one on the advice of the Minority Leader. The Chief Secretary is the leader of the majority party in the assembly and is at the helm of the Executive arm of the THA.
The Democratic Labour Party was the main opposition party in Trinidad and Tobago from 1957 till 1976. That party was the party which opposed the People's National Movement (PNM) at the time of Independence. After several splits brought about by leadership struggles,the party lost its hold on the Indo-Trinidadian community in the 1976 General Elections and was displaced in parliament by the United Labour Front under the leadership of Basdeo Panday,a former DLP senator. The party was the representative of the ethnic Indian community in the country;however Indian Muslims and Christians were said to be less loyal to the party than Indian Hindus.
Basdeo Panday was a Trinidadian and Tobagonian statesman,lawyer,politician,trade unionist,economist,and actor who served as the fifth Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago from 1995 to 2001. He was the first person of Indian descent along with being the first Hindu to hold the office of Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. He was first elected to Parliament in 1976 as the Member for Couva North,Panday served as Leader of the Opposition four times between 1976 and 2010 and was a founding member of the United Labour Front (ULF),the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR),and the United National Congress (UNC). He served as leader of the ULF and UNC,and was President General of the All Trinidad Sugar and General Workers' Trade Union from 1973 to 1995.
Winston Edward Peters,also known by his sobriquet Gypsy,is a Trinidad and Tobago politician and calypsonian who served as Trinidad and Tobago's Minister of Community Development in the People's Partnership Coalition led by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. Peters also served as Minister of Arts and Multiculturalism from 27 May 2010 to 22 June 2012.
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.
Faris Al-Rawi is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian politician. He was the former Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago from 2015 to 2022. He is also a Member of the House of Representatives for the constituency of San Fernando West.
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.
Eden Arthur Shand was a Trinidadian environmentalist and politician. He worked toward establishing environmental standards in Trinidad and Tobago.
Garvin Edward Timothy Nicholas is a Trinidad and Tobago politician and former diplomat. He served as a temporary Opposition Senator representing the United National Congress (UNC) in the 8th Republican Parliament and the 10th Republican Parliament. He was the Trinidad and Tobago High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 2010 until 2013 and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary for Trinidad and Tobago to Denmark,Finland,Norway,Sweden and Germany. He served as the Attorney General for Trinidad and Tobago from 3 February 2015 until 17 June 2015. He is the leader of the Movement for National Development (MND),a political party which contested the 2020 general election.
References
- ↑ "FCB Board of Directors". First Citizen's Bank. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
- ↑ "Isidore Smarts Dies at 96". Trinidad Guardian. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
- ↑ "Resume of Anthony Isidore Smart" (PDF). First Citizen's Bank. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
- ↑ "Francis Wayne Isidore Smart". National Sporting Archives of Trinidad and Tobago. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
- ↑ "Report on the 1981 General Elections" (PDF). Elections and Boundaries Commission. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
- ↑ "Report on the 1986 General elections" (PDF). Elections and Boundaries Commission. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
- ↑ "Members of Past Parliaments". Parliament of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
- ↑ "Rebels in Trinidad Set Premier Free". The New York Times. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
- ↑ "AG disguised self as maid". Trinidad Newsday. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
- ↑ "Smart: Three Women Saved My Life". Trinidad and Tobago Express. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
- ↑ "Report on the 1991 General Elections Results" (PDF). Elections and Boundaries Commission. Retrieved October 13, 2015.