Current Opposition Government
Current Opposition Government |
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Derek Hugh Taylor (born 1 October 1951 was Chief Minister of the Turks & Caicos Islands from 31 January 1995 to 15 August 2003. He was the former leader of the People's Democratic Movement (PDM) party and has now returned to active politics after defeating Douglas Parnell.
Douglas Parnell |
Business and Family and Education In a world of dramatic and profound change Doug Parnell has been able to assist in growing business and organizations to new levels. He has been at the forefront of numerous sales and business development efforts. He honed his sales skills at King Schools under the direction of John and Martha King’s outside sales force headed by Bob Gephardt. The challenge presented to telecoms after the 1996 deregulation of the telecommunications industry in the United States was daunting. While working as an Area Sales manager for Phoneware-the largest agent for GTE- he met and conquered the out of franchise territory while training a sales force of over 300 persons. Though the challenges of new territories were exciting and rewarding Doug made a decision to become an entrepreneur in October of 1998 forming the company American Business Center Inc. Using his contacts in business the company acted as a consultant and referral agent to various start up companies. That fateful decision saw him looking to his home country Turks and Caicos Islands for development and business opportunities. There he met Tanya Lightbourne who founded Lucayan Ventures Limited and it was here that he met his business and marital match with Tanya and Lucayan. He took on the role of business development and along with his wife has seen the company to new heights, spearheading the acquisition of beachfront land, negotiating the franchise for the largest money transfer in the world for Turks and Caicos Islands territory and acquiring Provo Building Supply, the oldest hardware store in Providenciales. He has served as President of the Providenciales Chamber of Commerce 2005-2007. As Chamber President he grew the organization to over 165 members, participated with Government on various issues affecting the business community, played an active role in the National Development Plan sitting on various committees and consulted with business leaders and groups around the Caribbean region. He attended Mesa College in San Diego and the University of Phoenix Online. He is constantly seeking to enhance private sector development, grow young entrepreneurs into a life of business and enrich the lives of people in his community. The Lucayan Group of companies is active and maintains a strong position in the local economy. The company imports over 6 million annually from the United States of America. He acted as Host for the discontinued popular Television show The Hardline for 18 months. He is married to Tanya Lightbourne-Parnell they have three children Alejandra, Abigail and George Douglas along with Alejah from a previous relationship. Politics The Turks and Caicos Islands is a British Overseas Territory with a Westminster style Legislature. The PDM became the first government of the Turks and Caicos in 1976 with the new Ministerial form of government. Since then the party has successfully captured the reins of government in the general elections of 1988, 1995, 1999 and 2003. The party lost power in the bi-elections of August 2003. Doug is the People’s Democratic Movement’s (PDM) appointed member to the House of Assembly. Hon. Parnell was sworn into Parliament after the 2007 general elections which saw his party losing 13 of the 15 seats to the incumbent government. Hon. Parnell has been a member of the party since 1999 when he returned home from California. Since becoming a member of the House of Assembly Hon. Parnell was appointed to the administration committee which has broad oversight critiquing the governments’ policies. He has been instrumental in bringing relevant issues to the fore including Governments subsidizing of the National Lottery(the only known government subsidized gaming operation in the world) and the dangers posed by asbestos in the Government office buildings at South Base on the capital island of Grand Turk where cancer rates have been higher than the national average. He also led the charge and trumpeted the need for scrutiny of the Hospital project bringing the much talked about 235 million dollar mortgage to the attention of the people of the country. He was a candidate for Leadership of his party in the 2008 National Convention. Hon. Parnell is an active member of the Providenciales Branch of The People’s Democratic Movement and he sits on the Party’s National Executive. I am the right person to lead Today, because of the challenges we face and the conditions that we are in, because of our political history of instability and uncertainty and the precarious position this puts our future in the Turks and Caicos Islands we are faced with the need and political reality to produce a PDM Leader that can take complex issues and simplify them for the people to make sound decisions. I pledge to use all my God given talents, and abilities, and my burning desire to pull persons from various backgrounds, islands, race, gender, nationality and class toward a common agenda of bettering the lives of our people and transforming our party into the dynamic and dominant political movement it was intended to be. This is the passion that I have for the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands and the country that I call home. Judge me by the quality of my ideas for our future together. How we can overcome our National Challenges Firstly, we need a PDM Government that has proven through time to have the passion and political conviction of caring for our people and having our countries best interest at the core of every Government Policy. As a party we have proven while in Government and in Opposition that our ideas are relevant, our desire to seek the best interest of Turks and Caicos Islanders unquestionable and our motivation to act and deliver on policies unsurpassed by any other political force in the Turks and Caicos Islands. I believe, without reservation, that a PDM Government is by far the best plan to overcome our challenges. As PDM’s we are compelled because of our intrinsic makeup and because our foundation was borne out of a struggle to bring equal rights and justice for our people. This is the trust that must be upheld in our top position of the party. EXECUTIVE MEMBERS OF THE PARTY INSTALLED AT BANQUET Douglas Parnell - Leader of the Peoples' Democratic Movement PDM SHADOW GOVERNMENT OF THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS Hon. Douglas Parnell- Appointed Premier, Minister of Development, Trade, Commerce and Home Affairs |
