Presidential election to be held in Trinidad and Tobago

Presidential elections are scheduled to be held on Trinidad and Tobago on February 15^th. The president, is, like the Queen in England, the nominal head of state, however, in this island nation the post is largely ceremonial, with the real executive power vested in the prime minister.

The president is elected by the members of Parliament and, given Trinidad and Tobago’s parliamentary system of government, it is likely that the candidate nominated by the group holding the most seats in parliament, in this case the Peoples Partnership coalition will ascend to the presidency.

The candidate nominated by the PP is Anthony Carmona, a highly respected former justice of the nation’s Supreme Court. Although the election will be on the 15^th the new president will not take office until March 17^th, at the end of the term of the current president, George Maxwell Richards. In addition to his position in the judicial system of Trinidad Carmona was recently elected to be a justice of the International Criminal Court.