History of The Turks and Caicos Islands - Local Autonomy

Local Autonomy

The salt industry, along with small sponge and hemp exports, sustained the Turks and Caicos Islands (only barely, however; there was little population growth and the economy stagnated) until in the 1960s American investors arrived on the islands and funded the construction of an airstrip on Provo Island and built the archipelago's first hotel, "The Third Turtle". A small trickle of tourists began to arrive, supplementing the salt economy. Club Med set up a resort at Grace Bay soon after. In the 1980s, Club Med funded an upgrading of the airstrip to allow for larger aircraft, and since then, tourism has been gradually on the increase. It is common for foreign couples to be married in the Turks and Caicos Islands today.

In 1980, the ruling pro-independence party, the People's Democratic Movement (PDM), agreed with the British government that independence would be granted in 1982 if the PDM was reelected in the elections of that year. The PDM lost the elections to the Progressive National Party (PNP), which supported continued British rule. The PNP's leader, Norman Saunders, became chief minister, and won the 1984 elections. However, in 1985 Saunders and two associates were convicted in the USA on drug charges.

The PNP emerged victorious from the following by-elections, but on 24 July 1986, the governor dissolved the government and replaced it with an advisory council after a report on allegations of arson and fraud found that the chief minister post-Saunders, Nathaniel Francis, along with four other PNP officials were unfit to rule.

Under the careful guidance of the governor and the advisory council, a new constitution of the Turks and Caicos Islands was created and elections held in 1988, with the PNP winning by a landslide, and Washington Misick becoming the new chief minister.

Elections in the Turks and Caicos Islands were held on 24 April 2003 and again on 9 February 2007 with the PNP, led by Michael Misick, winning both.

The islands' political troubles in the 2000s resulted in a rewritten constitution promulgated on 9 August 2006. In April 2006, Premier Misick reaffirmed that his party saw independence from Britain as the “ultimate goal” for the islands, but not at the present time. In 2008, after members of the British parliament conducting a routine review the administration received several reports of high level official corruption in the Turks and Caicos, Governor Richard Tauwhare announced the appointment of a Commission of Enquiry into corruption. The same year, Premier Misick himself became the focus of a criminal investigation after a woman identified by news outlets as an American citizen residing in Puerto Rico accused him of sexually assaulting her although he strongly denies the charge.