Chief Secretary of Tobago explained

Post:Chief Secretary
Body:Tobago
Insignia:THAseal.png
Incumbent:Farley Chavez Augustine
Department.:Tobagonian Government
Tobago House of Assembly
Style:Chief Secretary
(informal)
The Honourable
(formal)
Status:Head of Government
Abbreviation:CS
Reports To:Tobago House of Assembly
Residence:Office of the Chief Secretary
Seat:Scarborough, Tobago
Nominator:Tobago House of Assembly
Appointer:President of Trinidad and Tobago
Termlength:The Chief Secretary is nominated among the Assembly following quadrennial elections to the Assembly or resignation of the previous Chief Secretary
First:ANR Robinson AM
Succession:7th in order of precedence
Deputy:Faith B. Yisrael
Salary: per annum[1]

The Chief Secretary of Tobago is the leader of the Tobagonian Government.[2] The Chief Secretary chairs the Tobagonian Cabinet and is primarily responsible for the formulation, development and presentation of Tobagonian Government policy. Additional functions of the Chief Secretary include promoting and representing Tobago in an official capacity, at home and abroad, and responsibility for constitutional affairs, as they relate to devolution and the Tobagonian Government.

The Chief Secretary is a Member of the Assembly, and is nominated by the Tobago House of Assembly before bring officially appointed by the President. Members of the Tobagonian Cabinet as well as councilors of the Tobagonian Government are appointed by the Chief Secretary. As head of the Tobagonian Government, the Chief Secretary is directly accountable to the Tobago House of Assembly for their actions and the actions of the Tobagonian Government.

The official office of the Chief Secretary is in Calder Hall Road, Scarborough, Tobago as well as the Tobago House of Assembly on Jermingham Street.

The current Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly is Mr. Farley Chavez Augustine of the Progressive Democratic Patriots, he assumed the chair on December 9, 2021.

Election and term

The Chief Secretary is almost always the leader of the largest party, or the leader of the senior partner in any majority coalition. There is no term of office for a Chief Secretary. In practice, they hold office as long as they retain the confidence of the chamber; indeed, they are required to either resign or seek a parliamentary dissolution (and with it, new elections) if his or her government "no longer enjoys the confidence of the Parliament." Whenever the office of Chief Secretary falls vacant, the President is responsible for appointing the new incumbent; the appointment is formalised at a meeting between the President and the Chief Secretary designate.

If an incumbent Chief Secretary is defeated in a general election, they do not immediately vacate office. The Chief Secretary only leaves office when the Tobago House of Assembly nominates a successor individual.

The period in office of a Chief Secretary is not linked to the term of members of the Tobago House of Assembly. A maximum four-year term is set for each session of Parliament.

Parliament can be dissolved and an extraordinary general election held, before the expiration of the four-year term.

The Chief Secretary, once appointed continues in office as the head of the devolved Tobago House of Assembly until either resignation, dismissal, or death. Resignation can be triggered off by the passage of a Motion of No Confidence in the Chief Secretary or the Tobagonian Government or by rejecting a Motion of Confidence in the Tobago House of Assembly. In those situations, the Chief Secretary must tender their resignation and the resignation of their government to the president. In such circumstances, the Presiding Officer appoints an interim Chief Secretary, until the Tobago House of Assembly determines on a new nominee to be presented to the President for formal appointment.

Nomination and appointment

Candidates for the position of Chief Secretary are nominated by the members of the Tobago House of Assembly from among its assembly members at the beginning of each term. The members elect the nominee for the Chief Secretary by majority vote. If no one is elected by a majority of votes cast with the first set of nominations, the process continues until a majority decide to cast their vote for one candidate. This process does not require an absolute majority of the Assembly (currently 8 out of 15 members).

Once this process has occurred the Presiding Officer shall formally send a letter to the incumbent President who must then appoint that nominee to the position of Chief Secretary.

List of Chief Secretaries of Tobago

Below is a list of office-holders:[3] [4] [5]

(3) (3) (1) (1)
PortraitTitleChief Secretary

(Birth–Death)

Office

Term of office & mandateDuration in years and daysPartyGovernmentDeputy
Chairman of the Tobago House of Assembly
1A. N. R. Robinson

AM for Roxborough/Delaford

4 December 198016 December 19861980Democratic Action CongressRobinson I1Jefferson Davidson (DAC)

1980-1986

(NAR)

1986

1984Robinson II
2Jefferson Davidson

AM for Belle Garden/Goodwood

16 December 198631 October 1989National Alliance for ReconstructionDavidson I2Hochoy Charles(NAR)
1988Davidson II3Benedict Armstrong(NAR)
3Lennox Denoon

AM for Scarborough/Signal Hill

1 November 1989December 19961992National Alliance for ReconstructionDenoon
Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly
4Hochoy Charles

AM for Moriah/Parlatuvier

December 199631 January 20011996National Alliance for ReconstructionCharles4Cecil Caruth(NAR)
5Orville London

AM for Scarborough/Calder Hall

1 February 200126 January 20172001People's National MovementLondon I5Cynthia Alfred(PNM)
2005London II
2009London III6Hilton Sandy(PNM)
2013London IV7Tracy Davidson-Celestine(PNM)
6Kelvin Charles

AM for Black Rock/Whim/Spring Garden

26 January 201730 April 20202017People's National MovementCharles8Joel Jack(PNM)
Joel Jack (acting)30 April 20206 May 2020People's National Movement
7Ancil Dennis

AM for Buccoo/Mount Pleasant

6 May 20208 December 2021People's National MovementDennis
8Farley Chavez Augustine

AM for Parlatuvier/L’anse Fourmi/Speyside

8 December 2021Incumbent2021 (December)Progressive Democratic PatriotsAugustine9Watson Solomon Duke(PDP)

(2021-2022)

Faith B. Yisrael

(Independent)

(2022-)

Timeline of Chief Secretaries

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Previous nominating elections

Party keyPNM
PDP
Chief Secretary nominative elections
Parliamentary termDateCandidatesVotes received
Twelfth Assembly9 December 2021 Farley Chavez AugustineNominated by Watson Solomon Duke
Seconded by Zorisha Hackett
Eleventh Assembly4 February 2021No Chief Secretary nominative election was subsequently held due to preceding deadlocked Presiding Officer nominative elections;Ancil Dennis remains as Caretaker Chief Secretary[6]
1 February 2021
28 January 2021
Tenth Assembly6 May 2020 Ancil DennisNominated by Sheldon Cunningham
Seconded by Hayden Spencer

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: DRAFT ESTIMATES OF THE REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE 2019 . Republic of Trinidad and Tobago . 7 January 2020.
  2. Web site: About The Assembly. March 24, 2015.
  3. Book: https://www.tha.gov.tt/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/update-issue-2.pdf. 13 June 2020.
  4. Book: Pemberton. Rita. Historical dictionary of Trinidad and Tobago. McCollin. Debbie. Matthews. Gelien. Toussaint. Michael. 19 March 2018. Rowman & Littlefield . 978-1-5381-1146-8. Newition. en. 13 June 2020.
  5. Web site: Trinidad and Tobago. 12 June 2020. www.worldstatesmen.org.
  6. Web site: THA sitting suspended, deadlocked again Loop Trinidad & Tobago . 2022-05-02 . Loop News . en.