(Trinidad Express) RETIRED Justice Anthony Thomas Aquinas Carmona is the new President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.
President Carmona was this afternoon sworn in as the country’s fifth President at a public ceremony attended by politicians, and the people, at the Hasley Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain.
At 5.07 p.m, Chief Justice Ivor Archie administered the oath of office. President Carmona was then congratulated and hugged by Justice Archie. President Carmona bowed to those who came to witness the inauguration.
He then performed his first official function, that of inspecting the 96 member Guard of Honour.
President Carmona, 60, was greet with a standing ovation when he arrived at the Hasley Crawford Stadium, Port of Spain.
Carmona arrived at 5.02 p.m, and walked hand in hand with wife Reema Carmona, followed by his children, Christian and Anura.
The ceremony is being carried live on television and radio. You can join CCN TV6 live streaming the Inauguration, along with panel discussions on http://www.tv6tnt.com/watch-live, from 4 p.m.
There will be a 7.30p.m post-inauguration reception hosted by Professor George Maxwell Richards and wife Dr Jean Ramjohn-Richards in honour of Carmona and wife Reema.
Yesterday, a demittal ceremony was held for Richards outside Knowsley, Queens Park west, that marked end of his term as the country’s Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.
Professor Richards and wife Jean Ramjohn-Richards arrived at the stadium at 4.45p.m to applause from the crowd, many whom are pupils from schools near Trinidad’s south coast, in the area where Carmona was born and raised.
On February 17, the day he received the instrument confirming his election to the office of the President, Carmona pledged to serve as President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago with “clarity, objectivity, fairness and due process”.
He also said he wants to be no part of the “discarding of the old” in order to glorify the new.
