Trinidad and Tobago, Government

According to the constitution of 1976, Trinidad and Tobago is a republic. The constitution provides for a president and a bicameral legislature, consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The president is elected by an electoral college of members of both houses of the legislature. The House of Representatives has 36 members, popularly elected to five-year terms. The 31 members of the Senate are appointed by the president. Tobago was granted its own house of assembly in 1980.