Yearbook 2009
Trinidad and Tobago. In January, the government presented a series of draft constitutional amendments to Parliament. The most important proposal was that the Prime Minister’s post should be abolished and that an Executive President should instead be installed as head of government. According to countryaah, the president had a largely ceremonial role as head of state. The Executive President would in future be appointed by Parliament and be entitled to appoint 17 members of government. Another proposed constitutional change was that the Privy Council in London should be replaced as the highest court of appeal with the Regional Caribbean Supreme Court (CCJ). It was expected to take at least two years before a vote on constitutional amendments would be held in Parliament. Before that, the proposals would be discussed among politicians and the general public. The same month elections were held for the autonomous island of Tobago’s parliament. Trinidad and Tobago’s National Government Party, the People’s National Movement (PNM), clearly won with eight out of twelve seats also in Tobago’s parliament.
As a result of the international recession, Trinidad and Tobago’s economic growth stopped at a modest level. Above all, it was the country’s oil and gas sector, with associated industries, affected by the downturn.