DA­REECE PO­LO

Se­nior Re­porter

da­reece.po­lo@guardian.co.tt

For­mer prime min­is­ter Stu­art Young is en­ti­tled to a pen­sion un­der the Prime Min­is­ter’s Pen­sion Act, ef­fec­tive once he ex­its pub­lic of­fice.

This clar­i­fi­ca­tion fol­lows re­cent me­dia re­ports ques­tion­ing his el­i­gi­bil­i­ty.​

Po­lit­i­cal sci­en­tist Dr Bish­nu Ra­goonath al­so con­firmed that Young will re­ceive the pen­sion up­on leav­ing pub­lic of­fice.

Sec­tion 3(1) of the Act stip­u­lates: “Every per­son who hav­ing been ap­point­ed Prime Min­is­ter on or af­ter the 31st day of Au­gust, 1962, ceas­es at any time af­ter such ap­point­ment to be Prime Min­is­ter shall be paid a pen­sion un­der this Act with ef­fect from the date on which he ceas­es to be Prime Min­is­ter and sub­ject to sub­sec­tion (2) the pen­sion shall con­tin­ue to be paid dur­ing the life­time of that per­son.”​

Sec­tion 3(2) fur­ther out­lines that if the in­di­vid­ual re­turns to pub­lic of­fice, pen­sion pay­ments are paused un­less their salary is less than the pen­sion amount.

“The Prime Min­is­ter’s pen­sion shall, if the per­son to whom it is payable be­comes a leg­is­la­tor or is again ap­point­ed Prime Min­is­ter, cease to be payable dur­ing the pe­ri­od in re­spect of which that per­son is a leg­is­la­tor or holds the of­fice of Prime Min­is­ter, as the case may be, but where the rate of the Prime Min­is­ter’s pen­sion ex­ceeds the rate of salary as a leg­is­la­tor, noth­ing in this sub­sec­tion shall pre­vent the pay­ment of the Prime Min­is­ter’s pen­sion to the ex­tent of such ex­cess.”

Ra­goonath said the de­tails are clear.

“Once a per­son serves as a Prime Min­is­ter for at least a day, they are en­ti­tled to a pen­sion for the rest of their life. How­ev­er, that is premised on the fact that they do not con­tin­ue to hold pub­lic of­fice.”​

Young, who as­sumed of­fice on March 17, 2025, fol­low­ing Dr Kei­th Row­ley’s res­ig­na­tion, served un­til May 1, when Kam­la Per­sad-Bisses­sar suc­ceed­ed him. ​

As of now, Young re­mains a Mem­ber of Par­lia­ment for Port-of-Spain North/St Ann’s West.​

The Prime Min­is­ter’s month­ly salary, as set by the most re­cent Salaries Re­view Com­mis­sion re­port is $87,847.