Trinidad and Tobago Government

Who is the president of Trinidad and Tobago?

Executive Branch:

chief of state: President Paula-Mae WEEKES (since 19 March 2018)

head of government: Prime Minister Keith ROWLEY (since 9 September 2015)

cabinet: Cabinet appointed from among members of Parliament

elections/appointments: president indirectly elected by an electoral college of selected Senate and House of Representatives members for a 5-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held on 19 January 2018 (next to be held by February 2023); the president usually appoints the leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives as prime minister

election results: Paula-Mae WEEKES (independent) elected president; ran unopposed and was elected without a vote; she is Trinidad and Tabago's first female head of state

Citizenship Criteria:

citizenship by birth: yes

citizenship by descent: yes

dual citizenship recognized: yes

residency requirement for naturalization: 8 years

Legal System:

English common law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court

Suffrage:

18 years of age; universal

Legislative Branch:

description: bicameral Parliament consists of:

Senate (31 seats; 16 members appointed by the ruling party, 9 by the president, and 6 by the opposition party; members serve 5-year terms;)

House of Representatives 42 seats; 41 members directly elected in single-seat constituencies by simple majority vote and the house speaker - usually designated from outside Parliament; members serve 5-year terms)

elections: Senate - last appointments on 23 September 2015 (next in 2020)

House of Representatives - last held on 7 September 2015 (next to be held in 2020)

election results: Senate - percent by party - NA; seats by party - NA; composition - men 21, women 10, percent of women 32.3%

House of Representatives - percent of vote - PNM 51.7%, People's Partnership coalition 46.6% (UNC 39.6%, COP 6%, other coalition 1%), other 1.7%; seats by party - PNM 23, UNC 17, COP 1; composition - men 29, women 13, percent of women 31%; note - total Parliament percent of women 31.5%

note: Tobago has a unicameral House of Assembly (16 seats; 12 assemblymen directly elected by simple majority vote and 4 appointed councillors - 3 on the advice of the chief secretary and 1 on the advice of the minority leader; members serve 4-year terms)

Judicial Branch:

highest resident court(s): Supreme Court of the Judicature (consists of a chief justice for both the Court of Appeal with 12 judges and the High Court with 24 judges); note - Trinidad and Tobago can file appeals beyond its Supreme Court to the Caribbean Court of Justice, with final appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (in London)

judge selection and term of office: Supreme Court chief justice appointed by the president after consultation with the prime minister and the parliamentary leader of the opposition; other judges appointed by the Judicial Legal Services Commission, headed by the chief justice and 5 members with judicial experience; all judges appointed for life with mandatory retirement normally at age 65

subordinate courts: Courts of Summary Criminal Jurisdiction; Petty Civil Courts; Family Court

Regions or States:

9 regions, 3 boroughs, 2 cities, 1 ward

regions: Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo, Diego Martin, Mayaro/Rio Claro, Penal/Debe, Princes Town, Sangre Grande, San Juan/Laventille, Siparia, Tunapuna/Piarco

borough: Arima, Chaguanas, Point Fortin

cities: Port of Spain, San Fernando

ward: Tobago

Political Parties and Leaders:

Congress of the People or COP [Prakash RAMADHAR]

Democratic Action Congress or DAC [Hochoy CHARLES] (only active in Tobago)

Democratic National Alliance or DNA [Charles CARSON] (coalition of NAR, DDPT, MND)

Movement for National Development or MND [Garvin NICHOLAS]

National Alliance for Reconstruction or NAR [Lennox SANKERSINGH]

People's National Movement or PNM [Keith ROWLEY]

Tobago Organization of the People or TOP [Ashworth JACK]

United National Congress or UNC [Kamla PERSAD-BISSESSAR]

International Law Organization Participation:

has not submitted an ICJ jurisdiction declaration; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

International Organization Participation:

ACP, AOSIS, C, Caricom, CDB, CELAC, EITI (compliant country), FAO, G-24, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (NGOs), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAES, MIGA, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, Pacific Alliance (observer), Paris Club (associate), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic Representation in the US:

chief of mission: Ambassador Anthony Wayne Jerome PHILLIPS SPENCER (since 27 June 2016)

chancery: 1708 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036

telephone: [1] (202) 467-6490

FAX: [1] (202) 785-3130

consulate(s) general: Miami, New York

Diplomatic Representation from US:

chief of mission: Ambassador John L. ESTRADA (since 19 April 2016)

embassy: 15 Queen's Park West, Port of Spain

mailing address: P. O. Box 752, Port of Spain

telephone: [1] (868) 622-6371 through 6376

FAX: [1] (868) 822-5905