Paula-Mae Weekes

HE Paula-Mae Weekes ORTT (born December 23, 1958)^[1] is the 6th and current President of Trinidad and Tobago. She took office on 19 March 2018 and became the first woman to hold the office of President.^[2]

Career

Weekes attended the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, from which she graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree, and the Hugh Wooding Law School, and was called to the Bar in 1982.^[3] After graduation she worked in the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for 11 years, before going into private practice in 1993. She was appointed to the judiciary in 1996 and to the Court of Appeals in 2005, where she served until her retirement in 2016.^[4] She served briefly as acting Chief Justice in 2012 after acting Chief Justice Wendell Kangaloo was injured in a car accident.^[3] In September 2016 Weekes was appointed to the appeals court in the Turks and Caicos.^[5]

Presidency

On 5 January 2018, Weekes, then a judge of the Turks and Caicos Islands Court of Appeal, was put forward as a presidential candidate by the People's National Movement government of Prime Minister Keith Rowley in hopes of reaching a consensus with the United National Congress-led parliamentary opposition of Kamla Persad-Bissessar, which later endorsed her nomination. Her proposal for the post of president was also lauded by political analysts. As Weekes was the only nominated candidate on election day, she was deemed elected without the need for a vote.^[6]

References