Commonwealth Caribbean Presidencies

• Author: Hamid A. Ghany
• Profession: Director of the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) at The University of the West Indies, St Augustine
• Pages: 89-118

5.

Commonwealth Caribbean

Presidencies

In the post-independence era in the Commonwealth Caribbean, three

presidencies have been created in Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and

Dominica. In Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, an independent republic

was created after the initial period of independence as an independent

monarchy which saw the transfer of the personal authority of Queen

Elizabeth II as in the Head of State to a president as Head of State.

In Dominica, the transfer was a direct one from associated statehood

to an independent republic in 1978 with Queen Elizabeth II ceasing to

exercise her personal authority over Dominica as its Queen to a Head of

State in the person of the president of Dominica.

Guyana was an independent monarchy between 1966 and 1970 and

became a republic with a ceremonial president in 1970. However, in 1980,

its presidency was altered from ceremonial to executive. Trinidad and

Tobago was an independent monarchy from 1962 to 1976 when it became

an independent republic in 1976 with a quasi-ceremonial president. The

presidency of Dominica may be described as quasi-ceremonial.

The Transfer of the Source of State Power

The creation of independent monarchies changed the relationship

between Queen Elizabeth II as Queen of the colonies of Trinidad and

Tobago and of British Guiana where she acted on the advice of British

ministers, to the status where she was Queen of these independent

monarchies acting on the advice of her Guyanese and Trinidad and Tobago

ministers.

Owing to the fact that it is impossible for Queen Elizabeth II to reside in

all of the countries of which she is Queen, it is, therefore, necessary for her

to have a personal representative in each independent country of which

she is Queen. That personal representative is the governor general. The

authority of the governor general is grounded in the Royal Prerogative of

the British Monarchy and in the local statute conferring powers upon the

office, and it is those powers that are exercised by the governor general on

behalf of Her Majesty on the advice of local ministers.

Constitutional Development in the Commonwealth Caribbean

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The executive authority of the state is grounded in the Royal Prerogative

of the British Monarchy. Ministers pledge an oath of allegiance to Queen

Elizabeth II, her heirs, and her successors upon taking office.

The transfer from monarchical to republican status in Trinidad and

Tobago saw the transfer of the Royal Prerogative to the new republic as the

basis of their state power and the inclusion of transitional provisions in

the Act of Parliament1 and the new republican Constitution.2 In Guyana,

provision was already made in the Independence Constitution of 19663

for Guyana to become a republic upon the approval of a resolution to

that effect in the National Assembly by simple majority vote.4 There were

no transitional provisions in the Constitution, but rather replacement

provisions. In 1980, Guyana enacted a new Constitution5 to become the

Co-operative Republic of Guyana.

Dominica had become an associated state in 1967 under the provisions

of the West Indies Act 1967.6 Under the provisions of this Act, the United

Kingdom (UK) created associated status for Antigua and Barbuda,

Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts-Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the

Grenadines. The Associated States were granted full internal self-

government, while citizenship, defence and external affairs remained the

responsibility of the UK. Either party (the UK or an Associated State) could

withdraw from the arrangement unilaterally under the provisions of the

Act.7 This meant that the associated states were granted the right to self-

determination.

The Independence Constitution of Dominica of 19788 came into force

on November 3,1978 together with an Order9 made after a resolution

was passed in the Dominica House of Assembly on July 12, 1978 that

terminated Dominica’s associated statehood following discussions with

the British government. Transitional provisions relating to the transfer

from associated statehood to a sovereign democratic republic were

included in the Constitution.

Methods of Election

The removal of monarchy and its replacement by republicanism in

Trinidad and Tobago and in Guyana; and the creation of a republic at

independence in Dominica removed the power of the prime minister to

advise Queen Elizabeth II, in her personal capacity as Queen, in two of

these three countries on the appointment of a governor general who would

serve as Her Majesty’s personal representative in each of these countries.

With Dominica advancing directly to being an independent republic upon