TRINBAGO – STATE OF THE UNION

​In Reply to a recent Facebook post - 
You have recognized that Tobago and Trinidad, just like St. Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla (SKNA) were different Nations combined under colonial rule for the convenience of colonial administration. 
Those were instances of forced union. 
In the Independence process, in the SKNA experience, there was a critical difference from the TT experience. 
That difference was that SK N and A were recognized as Nations in their Constitution. 
The Right of each Nation in the Union to self-determination up to and including the Right to divorce from the Union was recognized and enshrined in the SKNA Constitution but not in the TT Constitution. 
This is the same Right that you referred to that was given to Tobago in the Union legislation. 
Just as in a marriage between adults, the Right to Divorce (to leave a union that has irretrievably broken down), so too in a UNION of Nations, each Nation must have the Right to end the Union. 
Having the Right to is NOT the same as EXERCISING THAT RIGHT. 
We all know many families in which marriages have lasted lifetimes even though the couples enjoyed the Right to Divorce. 
In SKNA, the Right to Divorce was included in the Constitution at Independence. 
To date, only Anguilla, the smallest of the 3 has exercised that Right. 
In the TT case, the Right to Divorce (sold as a bad word - Secede) was included only for Tobago in the Union Acts but NOT for both Tobago and Trinidad in the Constitution. 
To deny that Right the notion of a "Unitary State" which is NOT to be found in the Constitution has been invented to camouflage the absence of the Right of Divorce in the continuing forced union between the 2 Nations. 
The Right to Secede as part of the Right to self-determination is presented as a bogeyman for Tobago because in part the hydrocarbon wealth lies more in the territory of Tobago (which would have sovereign territorial waters if it left the Union). 
In Tobago, the Right to Self-determination has been presented as excluding the Right to Secede by Robinson and others. 
Along the spectrum, others like Murray have argued that the Right to Self-determination must include the Right to Divorce from the Union. 
For the Union to be FREE AND EQUAL the Right to Divorce MUST be recognized for Each Nation in the Union, as in the SKNA Constitution. 
This issue is at the heart of resolving the Tobago-Trinidad relationship as a Constitutional Issue. 
In the 50 Anniversary of Independence, President Max Richards vocalized regret that the Constitutional Issue of the Tobago-Trinidad Union had NOT been RESOLVED. 
Regrettably, he offered no analysis as to Why Not or What was at the heart of the problem. 
Resolving the Constitutional Issue and creating a FREE AND EQUAL UNION is a matter for both the Nations - Tobago and Trinidad and must recognize the Rights of Both. 
As a secondary point, Union's such as the UN, CARICOM, FIFA etc are an entirely different kind of Union among Sovereign States unlike the TT Union which is about Nations forming a State or Country.