Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Following independence in 1962 , Trinidad and Tobago adopted a system of government based on parliamentary democracy according to the Westminster model. Executive power was vested in the prime minister and his Cabinet, which together exercised general direction and control over the governance of the country. A bicameral parliament was charged with the responsibility of making laws for the peace, order, and good governance of the country. It consisted of a lower house of 36 elected members, each representing an electoral district, and a 31–member Senate made of persons appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister and leader of the opposition. In 1976 Trinidad and Tobago enacted a written republican constitution, which remains the supreme law of the land and cannot be amended, abridged, or infringed without the requisite parliamentary majority. The bicameral legislature was retained and the parliament, unless dissolved, was required to sit for five years, after which a general election is held. Since independence, various challenges precipitated by different circumstances have emerged to frustrate the normal operations of the parliament. In 1971, following a successful “No Vote” campaign by the opposition in protest against the introduction of the voting machine, the incumbent People's National Movement (PNM) won the 36 seats contested in the general elections; ... log in or subscribe to read full text