Port-of-Spain, Friday May 23, 2025: Her Excellency Christine Carla Kangaloo, O.R.T.T., President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago has appointed nine (9) Independent Senators who will serve in the 13th Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago which opens today, Friday May 23, 2025. The First Session of the 13th Republican Parliament commences with a ceremonial opening at the Red House. The Independent Senators are:

  1. Mr. Anthony Vieira SC is returning to Parliament as an Independent Senator, a position he held in the 10th, 11th and 12th Parliaments. Mr. Vieira has been an attorney-at-law since 1983 in the civil, industrial, family and criminal courts and is certified in Sports Arbitration and as an Advanced Commercial Mediator. He was appointed Senior Counsel on 8 May 2023. Mr Vieira has acted as Legal Consultant to the Minister of Education, a trainer for Officers of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs on Consumer Legislation and Practice and was involved in the review and drafting of the Copyright Bill and the Telecommunications Bill (2000).
  • Mr. Deoroop Teemal is a senior Civil Engineer and Project Manager with forty-four years’ experience in Contract Administration, Construction Implementation and Water and Waste water Engineering. In the socio-cultural field, he has been President of the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh since 1998 and President of the National Council of Indian Culture since 2023. He has served as an Independent Senator since November 2018 and was the Chairman of the Joint Select Committee on Land and Physical Infrastructure.
  • Mr. Michael Simon de la Bastide S.C. was called to the Trinidad and Tobago Bar in July 1994 and practises out of Athena Chambers. His areas of practice include  civil litigation and in particular maritime/admiralty litigation, construction litigation, medical negligence litigation, contract disputes tort claims and personal injury litigation. He has acted for a variety of clients including multinational corporations, State corporations, leading banking insurance and other financial institutions, shipping companies, civil construction companies as well as smaller service based companies and for private individuals. He has appeared in the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Privy Council.
  • Dr. Marlene Attzs is a respected economist and academic who is a tenured Lecturer in Economics at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. Dr. Attzs has dedicated her career to studying topics relating to sustainable development including the challenges posed by climate change in the Caribbean. She is well known as public commentator on national and regional socio-economic issues. She has worked as a consultant to many national community-based organisations as well as regional and international institutions including the Caribbean Development Bank, the Inter-American Development bank and the United Nations Development Programme.
  • Dr. Desirée Murray is a tenured Senior Lecturer in Ophthalmology at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. She is the Honorary Consultant Ophthalmologist and continues to contribute to the elimination of avoidable blindness locally, regionally and globally through education, research, training and service delivery. Dr. Murray is chairperson of The Volunteers for World Sight Day, a registered NGO and is the author of numerous publications in her field.
  • Mr. Courtney Mc Nish has extensive Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations experience. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Human Resource Technologies Limited where he is the principal advisor to multiple clients within the public and private sectors on all operational and strategic matters of Human Resource Management, Industrial Relations practices and Labour Law. Mr. Mc Nish is a guest lecturer in the MBA programme at the three main campuses of The University of the West Indies.
  • Ms Candice Jones-Simmons born in Tobago, is an Attorney-at-Law with experience in trial preparation, conveyancing practice, research and drafting legal documents. Ms Jones-Simmons is a Tutor/Course Director at the Council of Education Hugh Wooding Law School, managing and supervising Associate Tutors and ensuring teaching and delivery of course content. Prior to this, Ms Jones-Simmons was a partner with Lex Caribbean and, later, M. Hamel-Smith and Co.
  • Mrs Alicia Lalite-Ettienne  is an MBA graduate trained in the Human Resources field with specialized experience in the area of disability training and employment. Ms Lalite is the first visually impaired person to sit in the Senate. She is an experienced Trainer/Teacher, Consultant, Marketer and Conference Presenter in the areas of computer access technology, development of specialized libraries for the blind and visually impaired, disability awareness and attitudinal change towards persons with disability. Mrs Lalite-Ettienne   is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Business Administration at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine.
  • Mr. Francis M. Lewis is a strategist, marketer and business development leader with 40 years’ experience in diverse sectors including manufacturing, services and the public sector. Mr. Lewis is the Senior Consultant and Director of Res Consulting Limited. He also serves as a Senior Adjunct Professor at the UWI-Lok Jack Global School of Business. He has served as Chairman of the Trinidad and Tobago Securities and Exchange Commission and as Vice-Chairman of the National Council for Competitiveness and Innovation.

After the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House are elected and take their oaths or affirmations, followed by members of both Houses, Her Excellency Christine Carla Kangaloo, O.R.T.T., President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago will address members of both Houses.