|
Caribbean Islands The Robinson Government
Robinson was sworn in as prime minister on December 17, 1986.
He had been involved in Trinidadian politics since 1958, when he
was first elected as a representative from Tobago. Robinson had
served the PNM as finance minister from 1961 to 1967 and as
minister of external affairs from 1967 to 1970, when he resigned
from the party. He returned to Tobago to head a local party that
later became the DAC; when the DAC joined the NAR in 1986, he was
elected leader of the new party.
Robinson reorganized the cabinet, creating a number of new
ministries. In April 1987 the ministries were those for education;
energy; external affairs, international marketing, and tourism;
finance and economy, which Robinson kept for himself, designating
two additional ministers to serve with him; food production, marine
exploitation, and forestry; health, welfare, and status of women;
industry, commerce, and enterprise; labour, employment, and
manpower resources; national security; planning and reconstruction;
works, resettlement, and infrastructure; and youth, culture, and
creative affairs. He named Selwyn Richardson as attorney general,
a post Richardson had formerly held under the PNM. Deputy leader
Panday resigned his post as head of the ATSE/FWTU to become
minister of external affairs, international marketing, and tourism.
The Robinson government was immediately faced with serious
economic problems. On taking office, Robinson found that financial
affairs were much worse than had been apparent. In April 1987, in
his report to the nation Robinson painted a grim picture of an
empty treasury with little relief in sight. The 1986 deficit was
US$2.8 billion rather than the US$1 billion claimed by the previous
government. Because the deficit had been covered by borrowing from
the Central Bank, there were few financial reserves left. Reserves,
which had been US$3.3 billion in 1981, dropped to less than US$400
million by the end of 1986. Oil prices fell, aggravating the
situation, and the state-owned oil companies expected to lose money
in 1987. Robinson promised to conduct a more open government than
the PNM and proposed a number of construction projects to stimulate
economic growth. He also attempted to cut costs by withdrawing the
cost-of-living allowance in the public sector, causing a storm of
union protests (see Role of Government, this ch.).
Since independence Trinidad and Tobago had never had a change
in party administration, and it experienced transition problems
when the NAR took over in December 1986. Questions arose as to
whether the public service commissions could be fair and
nonpartisan since they were a product of thirty years of PNM
government. The commissions and the civil service were scrutinized
to ensure that their members would serve an NAR government as
loyally as the former PNM government, to which they owed their
jobs. Provisions for retraining were made, and new guidelines on
discipline were established. When President Ellis Clarke, the first
president of Trinidad and Tobago, came to the end of his five-year
term, Parliament elected Noor Mohammed Hassanali, a Muslim and a
former judge. Immediately prior to the end of his term in March
1987, Clarke made two appointments to public service commissions
that angered Robinson, the latter claiming he had not been
"consulted" as provided in the Constitution. Robinson caused a
storm of protest by proposing a constitutional amendment to clarify
the legality of appointments made by an outgoing president. The
proposed constitutional amendment was later withdrawn because of
the intense criticism, and a commission was appointed to review the
Constitution for possible changes.
In an effort to deal with government corruption, the Robinson
administration published a formerly unpublished drug report that
detailed an increase in cocaine activity made possible by
corruption in the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (see National
Security, this ch.).
By the time of its party convention in July 1987, the NAR was
struggling with the responsibilities of trying to solve large
national problems with few resources; as a result, there were
strains within the four-party coalition as well as strikes by
various unions. Local government elections called for September 14,
1987, were the first referendum on the Robinson government. The NAR
held together and scored some gains, winning two of the four
municipalities previously controlled by the PNM and retaining six
of seven county councils. It failed, however, to capture the
important Port-of-Spain municipality from the PNM, giving both the
NAR and the PNM reason to feel confident about the future.
Data as of November 1987
|
