Antigua and Barbuda: Government

Principal Government Officials

Chief of State: Queen Elizabeth II; represented by Governor General Louise Lake-Tack
Head of Government: Prime Minister Winston Baldwin Spencer

As head of state, Queen Elizabeth II is represented in Antigua and Barbuda by a governor general who acts on the advice of the prime minister and the cabinet. Antigua and Barbuda has a bicameral legislature: a 17-member Senate appointed by the governor general--mainly on the advice of the prime minister and the leader of the opposition--and a 17-member popularly elected House of Representatives. The prime minister is the leader of the majority party in the House and conducts affairs of state with the cabinet. The prime minister and the cabinet are responsible to the Parliament. Elections must be held at least every 5 years but may be called by the prime minister at any time.

National elections were last held on March 12, 2009. The opposition successfully challenged the election results in three constituencies and had the results nullified by the Antigua High Court. The ruling UPP subsequently appealed that decision and the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal overturned the High Court’s ruling in October 2010, returning three ministers to their parliamentary seats.

Constitutional safeguards include freedom of speech, press, worship, movement, and association. Antigua and Barbuda is a member of the eastern Caribbean court system. Jurisprudence is based on English common law.

FOREIGN RELATIONS
Antigua and Barbuda maintains diplomatic relations with the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the People's Republic of China, as well as with many Latin American, European, African, and neighboring Eastern Caribbean states. It is a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Organization of American States, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, and the Eastern Caribbean's Regional Security System (RSS). Unlike some of its neighbors in the Eastern Caribbean, Antigua and Barbuda has withheld recognition of Taiwan and has established relations with the People's Republic of China.

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