A. N. R. Robinson
Encyclopedia
Arthur Napoleon Raymond Robinson, OCC
, TC
(born 16 December 1926 in Calder Hall
, Tobago
) was the third President
of Trinidad and Tobago
, serving from 19 March 1997 to 17 March 2003. He was also Trinidad and Tobago's third Prime Minister
, serving in that capacity from 18 December 1986 to 17 December 1991. He is internationally recognized for his proposal that eventually led to the founding of the International Criminal Court
.
President Robinson was the first active politician to be elected to the Presidency, and was the first presidential candidate who was not elected unopposed (the Opposition People's National Movement
(PNM) nominated Justice Anthony Lucky as its candidate for President). President Robinson sparked controversy in his term in office when he refused to appoint certain Senators recommended by the Prime Minister
Basdeo Panday
following the elections in 2000 and in 2001 when he appointed the Leader of the Opposition
Patrick Manning
to the position of Prime Minister after a tied election.
Mr. Robinson attended the Castara Methodists School where his father, James A. Robinson was Head Master. From there he was the first Bowles Scholar to Bishop's High School, Tobago, in 1939, and later the first House Scholarship winner from Bishop's High School in 1942. As candidate for Island scholarship from Bishop's High School in 1944 and 1945, Mr. Robinson obtained the Higher School Certificate in both years with Distinction in Latin. Continuing his studies in Tobago, Robinson gained admission to the Bachelor of Laws Degree of London University as an external student in 1949. In 1951, he left for the United Kingdom where he gained admission to the Inner Temple and passed the Bar Final Examinations in 1953. That same year he was admitted to St. John's College, Oxford, where he obtained a good Second Class Honors Degree in two years in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
He was admitted to practise as a Barrister-at-Law in Trinidad and Tobago in 1955 and was in the Chambers of Sir Courtney Hannays from 1957 to 1961. He was elected to the Federal Parliament of the defunct Caribbean Federation in 1958 and to the Trinidad and Tobago Parliament as representative for Tobago in 1961. He served as the first Minister of Finance of Trinidad and Tobago after Independence and later as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
He broke with the PNM party following the Black Power
disturbances in 1970 and founded the Action Committee of Democratic Citizens (ACDC). In conjunction with the Democratic Labour Party
, Robinson led the ill-fated "No-vote" campaign of 1971. This campaign protested the use of voting machine
s which the Opposition DLP considered to be used for election fraud in the 1961 and 1966 elections. Following the election, Robinson founded the Democratic Action Congress
(DAC) which won the two Tobago
seats in the 1976 and 1981 elections, but which failed to make credible headway in any constituencies in Trinidad
.
In 1981 Robinson joined forces with the United Labour Front (ULF) under the leadership of Basdeo Panday and the Tapia House Movement under the leadership of Lloyd Best to form the National Alliance. This group entered an Accommodation with the Organisation for National Reconstruction under the leadership of Karl Hudson-Phillips to fight (and win) the Local Government elections of 1983. Building on this victory the four parties combined to form the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) which won the 1986 elections by a margin of 33-3 and Robinson was appointed the first non-PNM Prime Minister.
Prior to the 1986 elections Robinson was instrumental in setting up the Tobago House of Assembly
(THA) and was its chairman from December 1980 to December 16, 1986. This local government entity was established in 1980 to strengthen the position of Tobago within the unitary state
of Trinidad and Tobago. His party, the DAC (and later the NAR) controlled the THA from 1980 until 2001 when the PNM gained control of the body.
During the 1990 coup d'état attempt
by the Jamaat al Muslimeen
the Prime Minister Robinson and much of his Cabinet were held hostage for six days by gunmen under the leadership of Bilaall Abdullah. When instructed to order the army to stop firing on the Red House
(the seat of Parliament where they were held hostage) Robinson instead instructed them to 'Attack with full force', an action which earned him a severe beating from his captors. He was also shot in his leg.
In 1989, during the 44th Session of the UN General Assembly, he proposed the creation of a permanent international court to deal with the transnational drug trade. This eventually led to the inauguration of the International Criminal Court
in 2002, commissioned to hear cases of crimes against humanity. He has received many honors for this achievement.
Robinson in June 2009 revealed he can hardly see or hear, and has great difficulty in walking.
Mr. Robinson collapsed at the Church of the Assumption on the 18th February 2010. He was taken to St Clair Medical Centre where he was warded at the Intensive Care Unit.
In May 2011 for his great service to this country, the airport in Tobago has been renamed the A.N.R. Robinson International Airport, replacing the name "Crown Point International Airport".
Order of the Caribbean Community
The Order of the Caribbean Community is an award given toThe award was initiated at the Eighth Conference of Heads of State and Governments of CARICOM in 1987 and began bestowal in 1992. Decisions as to award are taken by the Advisory Committee for the Order of the Caribbean CommunityThe Insignia...
, TC
Trinity Cross
The Trinity Cross was the highest of the National Awards of Trinidad and Tobago, between the years 1969– 2008. It was awarded for: distinguished and outstanding service to Trinidad and Tobago...
(born 16 December 1926 in Calder Hall
Calder Hall
Calder Hall can refer to -* Calder Hall Magnox nuclear power station at Sellafield* Calder Hall...
, Tobago
Tobago
Tobago is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located in the southern Caribbean, northeast of the island of Trinidad and southeast of Grenada. The island lies outside the hurricane belt...
) was the third President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
of Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
, serving from 19 March 1997 to 17 March 2003. He was also Trinidad and Tobago's third Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
, serving in that capacity from 18 December 1986 to 17 December 1991. He is internationally recognized for his proposal that eventually led to the founding of the International Criminal Court
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression .It came into being on 1 July 2002—the date its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the...
.
President Robinson was the first active politician to be elected to the Presidency, and was the first presidential candidate who was not elected unopposed (the Opposition People's National Movement
People's National Movement
The People's National Movement is the present-day opposition political party in Trinidad and Tobago. Founded in 1955 by Eric Williams, it won the 1956 General Elections and went on to hold power for an unbroken 30 years. After the death of Williams in 1981 George Chambers led the party...
(PNM) nominated Justice Anthony Lucky as its candidate for President). President Robinson sparked controversy in his term in office when he refused to appoint certain Senators recommended by the Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Basdeo Panday
Basdeo Panday
Basdeo Panday was the 5th Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago from 1995 to 2001 and has served as Leader of the Opposition from 1976–1977, 1978–1986, 1989–1995 and 2001–2010. He was first elected to Parliament in 1976 as the Member for Couva North. He is the former...
following the elections in 2000 and in 2001 when he appointed the Leader of the Opposition
Opposition (parliamentary)
Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. Note that this article uses the term government as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning the administration or the cabinet rather than the state...
Patrick Manning
Patrick Manning
Patrick Augustus Mervyn Manning was the fourth and sixth Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, as well as the former Political Leader of the People's National Movement . He served as Prime Minister from 17 December 1991 to 9 November 1995 and held that office again from 24 December 2001 until 26...
to the position of Prime Minister after a tied election.
Mr. Robinson attended the Castara Methodists School where his father, James A. Robinson was Head Master. From there he was the first Bowles Scholar to Bishop's High School, Tobago, in 1939, and later the first House Scholarship winner from Bishop's High School in 1942. As candidate for Island scholarship from Bishop's High School in 1944 and 1945, Mr. Robinson obtained the Higher School Certificate in both years with Distinction in Latin. Continuing his studies in Tobago, Robinson gained admission to the Bachelor of Laws Degree of London University as an external student in 1949. In 1951, he left for the United Kingdom where he gained admission to the Inner Temple and passed the Bar Final Examinations in 1953. That same year he was admitted to St. John's College, Oxford, where he obtained a good Second Class Honors Degree in two years in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
He was admitted to practise as a Barrister-at-Law in Trinidad and Tobago in 1955 and was in the Chambers of Sir Courtney Hannays from 1957 to 1961. He was elected to the Federal Parliament of the defunct Caribbean Federation in 1958 and to the Trinidad and Tobago Parliament as representative for Tobago in 1961. He served as the first Minister of Finance of Trinidad and Tobago after Independence and later as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
He broke with the PNM party following the Black Power
Black Power
Black Power is a political slogan and a name for various associated ideologies. It is used in the movement among people of Black African descent throughout the world, though primarily by African Americans in the United States...
disturbances in 1970 and founded the Action Committee of Democratic Citizens (ACDC). In conjunction with the Democratic Labour Party
Democratic Labour Party (Trinidad and Tobago)
The Democratic Labour Party was the main opposition party in Trinidad and Tobago between 1957 and 1971. The party was the party which opposed the People's National Movement at the time of Independence...
, Robinson led the ill-fated "No-vote" campaign of 1971. This campaign protested the use of voting machine
Voting machine
Voting machines are the total combination of mechanical, electromechanical, or electronic equipment , that is used to define ballots; to cast and count votes; to report or display election results; and to maintain and produce any audit trail information...
s which the Opposition DLP considered to be used for election fraud in the 1961 and 1966 elections. Following the election, Robinson founded the Democratic Action Congress
Democratic Action Congress
The Democratic Action Congress was a Tobago-based political party in Trinidad and Tobago.-History:The party was established in 1971 by A. N. R. Robinson, and was originally a autonomist party. It first contested general elections in 1976, in which it won both Tobago seats, taken by Robinson and...
(DAC) which won the two Tobago
Tobago
Tobago is the smaller of the two main islands that make up the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located in the southern Caribbean, northeast of the island of Trinidad and southeast of Grenada. The island lies outside the hurricane belt...
seats in the 1976 and 1981 elections, but which failed to make credible headway in any constituencies in Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
.
In 1981 Robinson joined forces with the United Labour Front (ULF) under the leadership of Basdeo Panday and the Tapia House Movement under the leadership of Lloyd Best to form the National Alliance. This group entered an Accommodation with the Organisation for National Reconstruction under the leadership of Karl Hudson-Phillips to fight (and win) the Local Government elections of 1983. Building on this victory the four parties combined to form the National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) which won the 1986 elections by a margin of 33-3 and Robinson was appointed the first non-PNM Prime Minister.
Prior to the 1986 elections Robinson was instrumental in setting up the Tobago House of Assembly
Tobago House of Assembly
The Tobago House of Assembly is the local government body responsible for the island of Tobago within the twin-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. The THA was established in 1980 to rectify some of the disparities in the relationship between the two islands, though a prior body using the same...
(THA) and was its chairman from December 1980 to December 16, 1986. This local government entity was established in 1980 to strengthen the position of Tobago within the unitary state
Unitary state
A unitary state is a state governed as one single unit in which the central government is supreme and any administrative divisions exercise only powers that their central government chooses to delegate...
of Trinidad and Tobago. His party, the DAC (and later the NAR) controlled the THA from 1980 until 2001 when the PNM gained control of the body.
During the 1990 coup d'état attempt
Jamaat al Muslimeen coup attempt
On Friday 27 July 1990, 114 members of the Jamaat al Muslimeen, an Afro-Trinidadian Islamic organisation, led by Imam Yasin Abu Bakr and Bilaal Abdullah attempted to stage a coup d'état against the government of Trinidad and Tobago. Forty-two insurgents stormed the Red House and took the Prime...
by the Jamaat al Muslimeen
Jamaat al Muslimeen
The Jamaat al Muslimeen is a Muslim organisation within the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago with a membership of predominantly Afro-Trinidadians....
the Prime Minister Robinson and much of his Cabinet were held hostage for six days by gunmen under the leadership of Bilaall Abdullah. When instructed to order the army to stop firing on the Red House
The Red House (Trinidad and Tobago)
The Red House is the seat of Parliament in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The architectural design of the Red House is of Greek revival style. The original building was destroyed in the 1903 water riots and was rebuilt in the year 1907. The Red House is located centrally within the capital...
(the seat of Parliament where they were held hostage) Robinson instead instructed them to 'Attack with full force', an action which earned him a severe beating from his captors. He was also shot in his leg.
In 1989, during the 44th Session of the UN General Assembly, he proposed the creation of a permanent international court to deal with the transnational drug trade. This eventually led to the inauguration of the International Criminal Court
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression .It came into being on 1 July 2002—the date its founding treaty, the Rome Statute of the...
in 2002, commissioned to hear cases of crimes against humanity. He has received many honors for this achievement.
Robinson in June 2009 revealed he can hardly see or hear, and has great difficulty in walking.
Mr. Robinson collapsed at the Church of the Assumption on the 18th February 2010. He was taken to St Clair Medical Centre where he was warded at the Intensive Care Unit.
In May 2011 for his great service to this country, the airport in Tobago has been renamed the A.N.R. Robinson International Airport, replacing the name "Crown Point International Airport".