Caribbean & Central America - January 2017 (ISSN 1741-4458)

The Turks and Caicos Islands went to the polls on 15 December to choose between the incumbent (conservative) Progressive National Party (PNP) and the opposition (centre-left) People’s Democratic Movement (PDM). The Progressive Democratic Alliance (PDA), led by former PDM leader Oswald Skippings, made up the slate in what was only the second election since direct rule was imposed by London from 2009-2012. The PDM, led by Sharlene Cartwright Robinson, took 10 of the 15 seats in the National Assembly to give the Turks & Caicos its first female premier. The remaining five seats were won by the PNP, but outgoing premier Rufus Ewing lost his seat and resigned as leader of the PNP. He was replaced by Washington Misick.

On winning the election, the new premier made an immediate promise to the so-called ‘Belongers’, that is the long-standing native population of the Turks & Caicos. She said: “For too long the Belongers of the Turks and Caicos Islands have been denied their rightful share of the wealth of our country. For too long those holding political office have diverted funds away from where it rightfully belongs: it belongs in the pockets of the Belongers. For too long we have had to tolerate the empty promises of false and weak leaders in the previous governments. No more…the time for talk is over, the time for action is now.”

The main criteria for Belonger status in the Turks & Caicos are to have been born in the islands and, at the time of birth, to have had at least one Belonger parent. If born outside the island, then at least one of the parents has to have been born in the islands and at least one has to have Belonger status. Belonger status can also be acquired, subject to certain additional requirements and the approval of the governor, by marriage or by making a significant social or economic contribution to the islands.

But if a pledge to look after Belongers resonated with the electorate, the PNP’s legacy of corruption must also have played its part in the electorate’s defection. Former PNP premier Michael Misick and several other former PNP ministers are on trial for corruption. Misick was chief minister of TCI from 2003-2006 and the country’s first premier from 2006-2009 until allegations of corruption against him and his government led the UK to impose direct rule for three years. He fled to Brazil, where he sought political asylum, but he was arrested in December 2012 and extradited back to the TCI in October 2013. Misick is implicated in the allegedly corrupt sale of Crown land, and his opponents cite his lavish lifestyle after his election in 2003 and his flight to Brazil in 2009 as prima facie evidence of his guilt.

Misick, even though he is currently on trial in the TCI, originally sought to stand in the election as one of the PNP’s “at large” candidates (the Assembly has 10 constituency members, five “at large” members, and four who are appointed – two to represent the governor and one each for the two main parties). After this attempt to stand for the PNP was blocked by the party, Misick then decided to stand as an independent “at large” candidate but the electorate was unimpressed by this and refrained from returning him to parliament.

The new premier will also act as Minister of Finance, Trade, and Investment, and she has appointed a six-member cabinet. However, the party has committed itself to a periodic rotation of ministerial positions.