The Chief Secretary of Tobago is the leader of the Tobagonian Government. 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 Tobago People’s Party. He assumed office 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 their 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 chairmen and chief secretaries Below is a list of office-holders: (3) (3) (1) (1)PortraitOfficeholder
(birth–death)
OfficeTerm of office and mandate Duration in years and daysPartyGovernmentDeputyChairman of the Tobago House of Assembly1A. N. R. Robinson
AM for Roxborough/Delaford4 December 198016 December 19861980Democratic Action CongressRobinson I1Jefferson Davidson (DAC)
1980-1986
(NAR)
19861984Robinson II2Jefferson Davidson
AM for Belle Garden/Goodwood16 December 198631 October 1989 —National Alliance for ReconstructionDavidson I2Hochoy Charles (NAR)1988Davidson II3Benedict Armstrong (NAR)3Lennox Denoon
AM for Scarborough/Signal Hill1 November 1989December 19961992National Alliance for ReconstructionDenoonChief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly4Hochoy Charles
AM for Moriah/ParlatuvierDecember 199631 January 20011996National Alliance for ReconstructionCharles4Cecil Caruth (NAR)5Orville London
AM for Scarborough/Calder Hall1 February 200126 January 20172001People's National MovementLondon I5Cynthia Alfred (PNM)2005London II2009London III6Hilton Sandy (PNM)2013London IV7Tracy Davidson-Celestine (PNM)6Kelvin Charles
AM for Black Rock/Whim/Spring Garden26 January 201730 April 20202017People's National MovementCharles8Joel Jack (PNM)—Joel Jack (acting)30 April 20206 May 2020—People's National Movement7Ancil Dennis
AM for Buccoo/Mount Pleasant6 May 20208 December 2021 —People's National MovementDennis8Farley Chavez Augustine
AM for Parlatuvier/L’anse Fourmi/Speyside8 December 2021Incumbent2021 (December)Progressive Democratic PatriotsAugustine9Watson Solomon Duke (PDP)
(2021-2022)
Faith B. Yisrael
(Independent)
(2022-)
Timeline of chief secretaries
Previous nominating elections Party key PNMPDP
Chief Secretary nominative electionsParliamentary termDateCandidatesVotes receivedTwelfth Assembly9 December 2021 Farley Chavez AugustineNominated by Watson Solomon DukeSeconded by Zorisha HackettEleventh Assembly4 February 2021No Chief Secretary nominative election was subsequently held due to preceding deadlocked Presiding Officer nominative elections;Ancil Dennis remains as Caretaker Chief Secretary1 February 202128 January 2021Tenth Assembly6 May 2020 Ancil DennisNominated by Sheldon CunninghamSeconded by Hayden Spencer
See also Tobago House of Assembly List of Presiding Officers of the Tobago House of Assembly
References