Government

Government refers to a body of people who runs a country. Some countries are democratic which means that the government is elected by the people during an election. Other countries are communist (non-democratic) which means that the government isn't selected by the people after an election but rather, some persons forcefully take power and control of the country. Luckily, the TCI is a democratic country that holds election every 4 years. The last election was in 2021\. The two main political parties in the TCI are the People's Democratic Movement (PDM) and the Progressive National Party (PNP). Two symbols of the PDM are the bell and the colour blue while the conch shell and the colour yellow represents the PNP. The PDM, our first political party, was founded on October 1, 1975 by James Alexander George Smith (J.A.G.S.) McCartney who is our only national hero.

Structure of the TCI Government (TCIG)

Governor

The head of TCIG is the governor, currently H.E. Nigel Dakin. Whoever holds this post is appointed by the queen as her representative to carry out duties on her behalf. The governor has responsibility for defense, external affairs, the regulation of international financial services; and internal security, including the police force.

Deputy Governor

The current deputy governor is H.E. Anya Williams. The holder of this post is appointed by the governor and acts for governor when he/she is away from the territory. Another responsibility of the deputy governor is to head the civil service. Under the Constitution, this position must be held by a native islander.

The House of Assembly

There are 19 seats in the Turks and Caicos Islands’ House of the Assembly. Fifteen (15) of these seats are filled by candidates whom have been directly elected. There are also four (4) other members. Each leader of the two political parties nominate one each while the other two are appointed by the Governor.

The Premier

After a general election, the leader of the winning party becomes the Premier and the leader of the party with the second most votes becomes the leader of the opposition. The Premier is responsible for forming the cabinet which consists of elected and can include nominated officials. These officials are who become minsters of government. The different government ministries currently existing in the TCI are Ministry: