TPP says PNM never suggested Nevis governance model

The Tobago People’s Party (TPP) says a comparison between former PNM autonomy bills and the constitutional arrangement in St Kitts and Nevis is “fundamentally flawed.”

The TPP issued a media release responding to comments from PNM MP Camille Robinson-Regis. Robinson-Regis had questioned Chief Secretary Farley Augustine’s visit to St Kitts and Nevis with Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, suggesting the visit was a “revision” of history because Augustine had previously rejected the St Kitts/Nevis model during Joint Select Committee considerations.

The TPP stated that Nevis governs itself under constitutionally protected authority, whereas under the PNM proposals, “Tobago would still have been governed from Port of Spain.”

The party argued that the PNM bills left Parliament with the power to override Tobago laws, control financing, and alter arrangements without the consent of Tobago.

“That is administrative decentralisation, not autonomy,” the TPP stated. “Real autonomy is not about managing programmes; it is about who holds final decision-making power.”

The TPP claimed the people of Tobago repeatedly called for protected authority and a guaranteed financial framework, but these requests did not appear in the final legislation.

According to the TPP, the electoral record shows the people of Tobago “soundly rejected” the PNM’s offerings in December 2021, the General Elections of 2025, and the THA elections of 2026.

The Chief Secretary has already stated the Tobago House of Assembly will include the participation of the legitimate Opposition Leader in new rounds of public consultations on autonomy to ensure the voice of Tobago is represented broadly.

The TPP stated the response was not a matter of rewriting history but clarifying the truth.

“Tobago is not seeking better management from afar,” the TPP stated. “Tobago is seeking the right to govern its own affairs.”