A. N. R. Robinson

Arthur Napoleon Raymond Robinson, SC, 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 machines 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".

External links

• A.N.R. Robinson's government biography