Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0014/00147.txt

Text File | 1991-06-24 | 26KB | 422 lines

$Unique_ID{COW00147}
$Pretitle{233A}
$Title{Antigua and Barbuda
Chapter 2B.   Role of Government}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Karen Sturges-Vera}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{antigua
barbuda
government
party
united
states
alp
political
bird
minister}
$Date{1987}
$Log{English Harbour View*0014701.scf
Nelson's Dockyard*0014702.scf
}
Country:     Antigua and Barbuda
Book:        Caribbean Commonwealth, An Area Study: Antigua and Barbuda
Author:      Karen Sturges-Vera
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1987

Chapter 2B.   Role of Government

[See English Harbour View: Courtesy Embassy of Antigua and Barbuda, Washingon
DC.]

[See Nelson's Dockyard: Courtesy Embassy of Antigua and Barbuda, Washingon DC.]

     Although most economic activity was privately controlled and operated,
state enterprises represented an important element in the economy in the late
1980s. Beginning with the electric power industry, the public sector expanded
into agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism, as well as infrastructural
services such as seaports, airports, roads, water supply, energy, and
telecommunications. Productive enterprises included a cotton ginnery, an
edible-oil plant, two large hotels, a commercial bank, an insurance company,
the Antigua and Barbuda Development Bank, and most of the prime agricultural
land.

     The government's rationale for involvement in infrastructure and public
utilities was that it contributed to firmer bases for further development. The
purchase of failing enterprises, such as the sugar factory and the oil
refinery, limited the anticipated increase in unemployment should the
enterprises actually close. The government entered the tourist sector
primarily to influence the employment practices of private investors. By
keeping the state-owned resort open year round, the government was able to
persuade the privately owned resorts to stay open as well, which alleviated
unemployment in what had been the slow season. In addition, operation of the
resort allowed the country to keep some of the tourist industry profits. In
the manufacturing sector, the government constructed factory shells to be
rented at low cost in order to attract foreign investment.

     Despite achievements in some areas, such as tourism, the government's
entrepreneurial efforts were relatively ineffective. Lacking an adequately
trained managerial work force, the government often contracted with foreign
nationals to run the state enterprises. In many cases, mismanagement grew out
of the political patronage system used to fill senior public sector positions.
Because the government also tended to act as the employer of last resort, it
effectively gave a higher priority to reducing unemployment than to
economically efficient use of labor. Despite its employment priority, the
government was forced to shut down some operations, including the sugar
factory and the oil refinery just mentioned, because they were serious
financial liabilities.

Trade and Finance

     Although Antigua and Barbuda was dependent on trade for its survival, it
maintained large annual trade deficits throughout the 1980s. Manufactured
goods, not including processed foods and beverages, comprised 59 percent of
all exports in 1981. Food, beverages, and tobacco represented 20 percent, and
other items accounted for the remaining 21 percent. Seventy percent of exports
were destined for other Caricom countries, especially Trinidad and Tobago and
Jamaica; the United States received 26 percent of Antiguan and Barbudan
exports. Imports mainly came from the United States and included food,
beverages, and tobacco (33 percent in 1981) and manufactured goods (25
percent). Other items accounted for 43 percent. Other major trading partners
were Britain and Canada. In 1986 exports were estimated to equal US $51.8
million, whereas imports were US $74.1 million, for a trade deficit of US $22.3
million. This gap, although still large, was reduced from the 1982 level, when
the trade deficit was US $90 million.

     Like the economy in general, the finance industry in the 1980s was
controlled largely by foreigners. Predominant were a small number of British
and Canadian banks and insurance companies. Loans, a source of commercial and
consumer credit, constituted the main link between the financial elements and
the rest of the economy. The private financial institutions favored the
tourist and construction industries to the detriment of other areas of the
economy. Seeing this as unsatisfactory, the government established its own
banks and insurance companies, including the Antigua and Barbuda Development
Bank. Public institutions were a relatively insignificant part of the
financial sector, however.

     Antigua and Barbuda, as a member of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean
States (OECS--see Glossary), was a member of the Eastern Caribbean Central
Bank. As such, it used the Eastern Caribbean dollar, which was created in July
1976 and pegged to the United States dollar at the rate of EC$2.70 equals
US $1.00.

Government and Politics

The Governmental System

     Antigua and Barbuda is a constitutional monarchy with a British-style
parliamentary system of government. The reigning British monarch is
represented in Antigua by an appointed governor general as the head of state.
The government has three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial.

     The bicameral Parliament consists of the seventeen-member House of
Representatives, responsible for introducing legislation, and the
seventeen-member Senate, which reviews and gives assent to proposed
legislation. Representatives are elected by popular vote in general elections
that are constitutionally mandated every five years but may be called earlier.
Senators are appointed by the governor general. The major figures in
Parliament and the government come from the House of Representatives. The
prime minister is the leader of the party that holds the majority of seats in
the House; the opposition leader is the representative, appointed by the
governor general, who appears to have the greatest support of those members
opposed to the majority government. The prime minister creates an executive
government and advises the governor general on the appointments to thirteen of
the seventeen seats in the Senate. The leader of the opposition, recognized
constitutionally, is responsible for advising the governor general on the
appointment of the remaining four senators to represent the opposition in the
Senate. The opposition leader also consults with the governor general, in
conjunction with the prime minister, on the composition of other appointed
bodies and commissions. In this way, the opposition is ensured a voice in
government.

     The executive branch is derived from the legislative branch. As leader of
the majority party of the House of Representatives, the prime minister
appoints other members of Parliament to be his cabinet ministers. In late
1987, the cabinet included thirteen ministries: Ministry of Agriculture,
Lands, Fisheries, and Housing; Ministry of Defense; Ministry of Economic
Development, Tourism, and Energy; Ministry of Education, Culture, and Youth
Affairs; Ministry of External Affairs; Ministry of Finance; Ministry of
Health; Ministry of Home Affairs; Ministry of Information; Ministry of Labour;
Ministry of Legal Affairs; Ministry of Public Utilities and Aviation; and
Ministry of Public Works and Communications.

     The judicial branch is relatively independent of the other two branches,
although the magistrates are appointed by the Office of the Attorney General
in the executive branch. The judiciary consists of the Magistrate's Court for
minor offenses and the High Court for major offenses. To proceed beyond the
High Court, a case must pass to the Eastern Caribbean States Supreme Court,
whose members are appointed by the OECS. All appointments or dismissals of
magistrates of the Supreme Court must meet with the unanimous approval of the
heads of government in the O