Known as A.N.R. or “Ray” Robinson, Arthur Napoleon Raymond Robinson was Trinidad and Tobago’s third prime minister, serving from December 18, 1986, to December 17, 1991. He is recognized for his proposal which eventually led to the founding of the International Criminal Court.
A.N.R Robinson became prime minister when the National Alliance For Reconstruction (NAR) severely defeated the PNM led by George Chambers in 1986. Shortly after assuming the position, he dismissed Basdeo Panday, John Humphrey, and Kelvin Ramnath from the Cabinet. However, Robinson subsequently lost the 1991 election. He rejoined the United National Congress UNC administration as a coalition member representing the NAR. Panday later offered to nominate him to become the next president of Trinidad and Tobago.
Robinson was instrumental in creating the International Criminal Court. In 1989, he asked Benjamin Ferencz and Robert Kurt Woetzel to help him draft a proposal for the UN General Assembly to ask the UN’s International Law Commission to study if they could create the International Criminal Court. The resolution was presented on behalf of Trinidad and Tobago at the UN General Assembly in June 1989, leading to the adoption of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in July 1998 and the creation of the International Criminal Court on July 1, 2002.
A remarkable event in Trinidad and Tobago’s history during Robinson’s tenure as prime minister was the 1990 coup attempt by the Jamaat al Muslimeen.
Robinson and much of his cabinet were held hostage in the Red House, the House of Parliament, for six days by gunmen under the leadership of Yasin Abu Bakr. During the hostage period, Robinson was beaten by his captors and shot in the leg.
Robinson and the NAR subsequently lost the 1981 election to the reformed UNC, led by Patrick Manning. Ironically, Robinson would return as the third president of the Republic, serving from March 19, March 1997 to March 17, 2003.
Robinson was the first active politician to be elected to the presidency. He was also the first presidential candidate who was not elected unopposed, as the then Opposition People’s National Movement had nominated Justice Anthony Lucky as its candidate for president.
President Arthur Robinson sparked controversy in his term in office when he refused to appoint certain senators recommended by Prime Minister Basdeo Panday following the elections in 2000 and in 2001. He instead appointed opposition leader Patrick Manning, as prime minister after the historically tied general election.
