Norman Saunders
Norman Benjamin Saunders, Sr. (born October 27, 1943 in South Caicos ) is a politician of the Progressive National Party (PNP) of the Turks and Caicos Islands , who was among other things Chief Minister of the Turks and Caicos Islands between 1980 and 1985 .
Life
Saunders first attended South Caicos Primary School and then from 1957 to 1960 the Turks & Caicos High School , from which today's HJ Robinson High School emerged . After graduating from high school , he played on the Turks and Caicos Islands cricket team from 1960 to 1971 and worked as a clerk at the Turks Island Salt Company from 1961 to 1964 . He also attended courses in accounting and auditing. He then worked between 1964 and 1974, first as an accountant and finally as deputy managing director at The Caicos Company and attended other courses in accounting at Rapid Results College , which he completed with an exam from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).
In 1967 Saunders was elected Member of Parliament (House of Assembly) for the first time and represented the interests of South Caicos in this until 1985 . Before the 1976 elections he founded the Progressive National Organization (PNO) together with Nathaniel "Bops" Francis , which was subject to the People's Democratic Movement (PDM) of James Alexander George Smith "Jags" McCartney in the elections with four to seven seats . The PNO later changed its name to what is now the Progressive National Party (PNP) and, unlike the PDM, did not advocate the independence of the British overseas territory located in the Caribbean .
After the PNP won the November 1980 elections, Saunders became Chief Minister of the Turks and Caicos Islands . In the 1984 elections, the PNP was confirmed and, with eight of the eleven seats in the House of Assembly, was well ahead of the PDM, which won only three seats. In March 1985 Saunders was arrested along with the Secretary of Commerce and Development, Stafford Missick, while in Miami in the USA for violating the Narcotics Act. The US Drug Enforcement Administration ( DEA ) accused him of accepting $ 30,000 from undercover agents for the safe transport of drugs by granting refueling permits on stopovers on drug courier flights between Colombia and the United States. Saunders' assumption of $ 20,000 has been proven on video.
As a result, the previous Deputy Prime Minister Nathaniel Francis took over the office of Chief Minister and political leader of the PNP on March 28, 1985. In July 1985, a US court finally sentenced him to eight years' imprisonment and a $ 50,000 fine for drug smuggling.
After his release from prison, he returned to the Turks and Caicos Islands. After the PNP had excluded him, he ran in the January 1995 elections as a non-party , but received only six votes.
Saunders, who is also a preacher in the Methodist Churches , is married with four children.
Web links
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Saunders, Norman |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Saunders, Norman Benjamin senior (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Turks and Caicos Islands politicians |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 27, 1943 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | South Caicos |