Tuesday, November 17 2009

Today we feature the host country of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting which begins in Port-of-Spain on November 27.

For the last 50 days we have featured the leaders of each of the countries taking part in CHOGM, which will be held at the Hyatt Hotel. As we bring the curtains down, we present the leader of Trinidad and Tobago, Patrick Augustus Manning.





Patrick Augustus Mervyn Manning, 63, is the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, as well as the Political Leader of the People’s National Movement (PNM). He served as Prime Minister from December 17, 1991 to November 9, 1995 and has held that office again since December 24, 2001; he was also the Leader of the Opposition from 1986 to 1990 and from 1995 to 2001. He has been the Political Leader of the PNM since 1987. A geologist by training, Manning has served as Member of Parliament for the San Fernando East constituency since 1971 and is currently the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives.



Manning received his secondary education at Presentation College, San Fernando. He obtained a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica in 1969. After graduation he returned to Trinidad where he worked as a geologist for Texaco. He entered Parliament in 1971 representing the San Fernando East constituency.

Between 1971 and 1978 he served as Parliamentary Secretary in various Ministries before being appointed junior Minister in the Ministry of Finance. In 1979 he was given the additional position of junior Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister.

In 1981 he was given a full Cabinet position of Minister of Information and Minister of Industry and Commerce. Between 1981 and 1986 he served as Minister of Energy and Natural Resources.

In the 1986 General Elections the ruling PNM suffered an almost total defeat. Only three candidates won their seats; the Prime Minister, George Chambers was among the losing candidates. As one of the three successful PNM candidates, Manning was appointed Leader of the Opposition. In 1987 he was elected Political Leader of the PNM. A split in the ruling National Alliance for Reconstruction in 1988 left the PNM as the minority Opposition party, and in 1990 Basdeo Panday agreed that he be appointed Leader of the Opposition.

In 1995, Manning called a General Election one full year before it was constitutionally due. In this election both the PNM and the UNC won 17 seats each and the NAR won 2 seats. The UNC and the NAR united in a coalition and formed the government, Basdeo Panday replaced Manning as Prime Minister.

Manning served as Leader of the Opposition once again, also losing the 2000 elections. The 2001 elections ended in a tie, with both the Opposition PNM and the governing United National Congress winning 18 seats. President ANR Robinson appointed Manning as Prime Minister. Unable to elect a Speaker of the House of Representatives, Manning proceeded to rule without Parliament until the need to pass a Budget forced him to call elections in October 2002. His party won this election with 20 seats to 16 for the UNC and formed the new government.

Under the current PNM administration, income taxes have been substantially reduced and the Corporation Tax has been reduced from 35 percent to 25 percent of profits for most companies.

The Government has also re-instituted free university education. The economy recently enjoyed a boom, primarily due to high natural gas and oil prices and to significant increases in natural gas production.

Conversely, the country still faces significant problems. Unemployment is currently at historic high levels, with many jobs being outsourced by Chinese immigrants in the construction industry. Violent crimes such as murders, rapes and kidnappings, rose sharply between 2002 and 2006, leading to widespread public dissatisfaction with the government’s ability to address crime.

Trinidad and Tobago has been ranked tenth on highest murder rates in the world, as of December 2008 the national murder figure stands at 510 persons killed in 2008 compared to 367 in 2007.

In 2007, Manning called for a general election to be held on November 4. The PNM won this election with 26 of the 41 seats and Manning began his third term as Prime Minister.

On December 11, 2008, Manning revealed that his doctor uncovered a malignant tumour in his left kidney. He returned to office on January 4, 2009 after undergoing surgery in Cuba on December 15, 2008. Manning now faces ongoing criticism over his Government’s inability to reduce the country’s high rate of murders, over allegations of poor accountability in spending billions of dollars by the State-run Udecott now being investigated by a commission of inquiry under Professor John Uff, and over his postponement of municipal elections each year for the past three years.

Trinidad and Tobago became an independent nation (from the United Kingdom) in 1962. The presence of American military bases in Chaguaramas and Cumuto in Trinidad during World War II profoundly changed the character of society. In the post-war period, the wave of decolonisation that swept the British Empire led to the formation of the West Indies Federation in 1958 as a vehicle for independence. Chaguaramas was the proposed site for the federal capital. The Federation dissolved after the withdrawal of Jamaica and the government chose to seek independence on its own.

In 1976, the country severed its links with the British monarchy and became a republic within the Commonwealth, though it retained the British Privy Council as its final Court of Appeal. Between the years 1972 and 1983, the Republic profited greatly from the rising price of oil, as the oil-rich country increased its living standards greatly.

In 1990, 114 members of the Jamaat al Muslimeen, stormed the Red House (the seat of Parliament), and Trinidad and Tobago Television, (TTT) the only television station in the country at the time, and held the country’s government hostage for six days before surrendering.

Since 2003, the country has entered a second oil boom, a driving force which the government hopes to use to turn the country’s main export back to sugar and agriculture. Great concern was raised in August 2007 when it was predicted that this boom would last only until 2018. Petroleum, petrochemicals and natural gas continue to be the backbone of the economy. Tourism is the mainstay of the economy of Tobago, and the island remains a favourite destination for many European tourists.

Trinidad’s economy is strongly influenced by the petroleum industry. Tourism and manufacturing are also important to the local economy. Tourism is a growing sector, although not proportionately as important as in many other Caribbean islands. Agricultural products include citrus, cocoa, and other products.

Recent growth has been fuelled by investments in liquefied natural gas (LNG), petrochemicals, and steel. Additional petrochemical, aluminum, and plastics projects are in various stages of planning.

Trinidad and Tobago is the leading Caribbean producer of oil and gas, and its economy is heavily dependent upon these resources but it also supplies manufactured goods, notably food and beverages, as well as cement to the Caribbean region. Oil and gas account for about 40 percent of GDP and 80 percent of exports, but only five percent of employment.

The country is also a regional financial centre, and the economy has a growing trade surplus. The expansion of Atlantic LNG over the past six years created the largest-single sustained phase of economic growth in Trinidad and Tobago. It has become the leading exporter of LNG to the United States, and now supplies some 70 percent of US LNG imports.