On Republic Day, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago placed full colour advertisements in the three daily newspapers to commemorate the 34th anniversary of Republic Day. While this was an appropriate action on the part of the Government, the information contained in those advertisements was highly misleading and one wonders who would have approved such an erroneous advertisement. The first substantial error was the fact that the advertisement stated boldly that Sir Solomon Hochoy was the last Governor-General of Trinidad and Tobago. Nothing could be further from the truth.
First Governor-General
Sir Solomon Hochoy was the first Governor-General of Trinidad and Tobago, while Sir Ellis Clarke was the last Governor-General. Indeed, it was Sir Ellis Clarke who, in his final act as Governor-General, signed the proclamation that brought the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago into being. The words at the end of that proclamation read "God Save The Queen." On August 1, 1976 (as correctly stated by the advertisement), Trinidad and Tobago became a Republic. However, the Parliament had stood dissolved on June 18, 1976 and a general election had to be held within three months of that date.
As it turned out, the Prime Minister, Dr Eric Williams, advised the new President, Sir Ellis Clarke, to fix the date of Monday September 13, 1976 for the holding of the general election. After that election, the new Cabinet advised the President to fix September 24 (Tuesday), 1976 as the date on which the first Parliament of the Republic would meet. That day was also declared a public holiday and called Republic Day. This brings me to the second major error in the official Government of Trinidad and Tobago advertisement. Reference is made in the advertisement to the fact that Sir Ellis Clarke was elected unopposed in the Electoral College to become the first President of Trinidad and Tobago.
That too is grossly inaccurate. Sir Ellis Clarke became the first President of Trinidad and Tobago by virtue of the transitional provisions contained in the Schedule to Act No 4 of 1976 which is the Constitution of Trinidad and Tobago. According to section 25(1) of the Constitution: "The person holding the office of Governor-General of Trinidad and Tobago at the commencement of this Constitution shall hold the office of President under this Constitution until a President is elected under the provisions of this Chapter and assumes office."
The fact that an official advertisement put out by the Government Information Service could be riddled with such major inaccuracies on the occasion of Republic Day is appalling. Surely, there must be some measure of checking and vetting for official advertisements on State occasions such as Republic Day that would get our elementary constitutional history right. However, the upshot of this is that it points to an even deeper problem that as a country we do not know our own history (at least as far as the Government Information Service is concerned).
The circumstances surrounding Sir Ellis being the last Governor-General and the first President must be understood in the following way. When, on the advice of the Cabinet, he signed the proclamation fixing August 1, 1976 as the day on which the republican constitution would come into force, he effectively was put into a situation where the office of Governor-General would have ceased to exist at midnight on July 31, 1976 and the office of President came into being immediately after that on August 1, 1976.
The transitional provisions
When Sir Ellis Clarke was elected as President through the Electoral College, it must be noted that the sitting of the Electoral College did not take place until early 1977 so that any reference to him becoming the first President in 1976 can only be to him becoming President by virtue of the transitional provisions in the new Constitution. While this may seem trivial to some, it is a fundamental issue as the advertisement may be cut out by schoolchildren to be used in class projects and teachers may also use the material as teaching aids in primary and secondary schools.
If transmitted, these incorrect assertions will mislead the young minds in our society. The other aspect of this that was also troubling is that reference was made in the advertisement to Nalis. If there are fundamental archival errors of this nature being sanctioned by Nalis, then we really have to be deeply concerned. A perusal of the Nalis web site on the biography of Sir Ellis Clarke has the following erroneous information:
"Upon proclamation of Republican status on September 24, 1976, the post of Governor- General became obsolete. Following a meeting of the Electoral College, as provided by the constitution, Ellis Clarke was elected unopposed, as President becoming the first President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago–an office he held until 1987. Ellis Clarke was involved in the draft constitution, culminating in his attendance at the Marlborough House Conference held in Venezuela from May 28 to June 8, 1962." Nalis is saying that the Marlborough House Conference was held in Venezuela in 1962! Urgent attention is needed.