{{Short description|Trinidadian and Tobagonian politician and economist}} {{BLP sources|date=May 2010}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | honorific_suffix = [[Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago|ORTT]] | name = Winston Dookeran | native_name = | image = File:Winston Dookeran (cropped).jpg | image_size = | caption = Dookeran in November 2013 | office1 = [[Secretary-General]] of [[EUCLID (university)|EUCLID]] | term_start1 = 1 July 2020 | predecessor1 = Syed Zahid Ali | office2 = [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (Trinidad and Tobago)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]] of Trinidad and Tobago | term_start2 = 22 June 2012 | term_end2 = 17 June 2015 | prime_minister2 = [[Kamla Persad-Bissessar]] | predecessor2 = [[Surujrattan Rambachan]] | successor2 = Dennis Moses | office3 = [[Ministry of Finance (Trinidad and Tobago)|Minister of Finance]] of Trinidad and Tobago | term_start3 = 28 May 2010 | term_end3 = 22 June 2012 | prime_minister3 = [[Kamla Persad-Bissessar]] | predecessor3 = [[Karen Nunez-Tesheira]] | successor3 = Larry Howai | office4 = Leader of the [[Congress of the People (Trinidad and Tobago)|Congress of the People]] | term_start4 = 10 September 2006 | term_end4 = 3 July 2011 | predecessor4 = ''Office established'' | successor4 = Prakash Ramadhar | office5 = Political Leader <br/> [[United National Congress]] | term_start5 = 2 October 2005 | term_end5 = 10 September 2006 | predecessor5 = [[Basdeo Panday]] | successor5 = Basdeo Panday | office6 = [[Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago#Governors of the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago|Governor of the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago]] | term_start6 = 1997 | term_end6 = 2002 | predecessor6 = Thomas Ainsworth Harewood | successor6 = Ewart S. Williams | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1943|6|24|df=y}} | birth_name = Winston Chandarbhan Dookeran | birth_place = [[Rio Claro, Trinidad and Tobago|Rio Claro]], [[Trinidad and Tobago]] | death_date = | death_place = | party = [[Congress of the People (Trinidad and Tobago)|Congress of the People]] (2006-''present'') | other_party = [[United National Congress]] (2002-2006)<br>[[National Alliance for Reconstruction]] (1986-2002)<br>[[United Labour Front]] (1981-1986) | spouse = | alma_mater = [[University of Manitoba]]<br/> [[London School of Economics]] | website = [http://www.winstondookeran.com/ winstondookeran.com] }} '''Winston Chandarbhan Dookeran''' {{post-nominals|list=[[Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago|ORTT]]}} ({{IPA|hi|viⁿsʈənə cəⁿd̪rəbʰɑːnə d̪ukərənə|pron}}; born 24 June 1943)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.news.gov.tt/E-Gazette/Gazette%202011/Gazette/Gazette%20No.%2089%20of%202011.pdf|title=Trinidad and Tobago Gazette No. 89 of 2011|access-date=29 January 2012|archive-date=31 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331102216/http://www.news.gov.tt/E-Gazette/Gazette%202011/Gazette/Gazette%20No.%2089%20of%202011.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian [[politician]] and [[economist]] as well as international public official. Dookeran is the current secretary-general of [[EUCLID (university)|EUCLID]], an intergovernmental institution of higher learning. He previously served as political leader of the [[Congress of the People (Trinidad and Tobago)|Congress of the People]], central bank governor, minister of finance, and minister of foreign affairs.

== Early life == Born in 1943, in [[Rio Claro, Trinidad and Tobago|Rio Claro]], [[Trinidad and Tobago]] to an [[Indo-Trinidadian]] family, he is one of the seven children of Mewalal and Sumintra Dookeran. Dookeran received his early education in Trinidad.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://umanitoba.ca/admin/governance/senate/hdr/1054.html | title=Honorary Degree recipients &#124; Governance &#124; University of Manitoba }}</ref>

==Education== The young Winston Dookeran attended [[Naparima College]] in [[San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago|San Fernando]], Trinidad. He then went on to attend the [[University of Manitoba]], [[Winnipeg]], Manitoba, Canada, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in [[economics]] in 1966. It was there that Dookeran made his first entry into politics and he served as the president of the University of Manitoba Students' Union.

He subsequently attended the [[London School of Economics]], where he obtained his master's degree in economics in 1969.

==Economist and politician== Dookeran spent some fifteen years as a lecturer in the Department of Economics at the [[University of the West Indies]]. In 1981 he contested the [[Chaguanas (parliamentary constituency)|constituency of Chaguanas]] as a candidate of the [[United Labour Front]] (ULF). He was victorious at the polls and was therefore elected as a Member of Parliament and served in the [[House of Representatives of Trinidad and Tobago]].

in 1986, when the ULF merged with other parties to form the [[National Alliance for Reconstruction]] (NAR), Dookeran again contested the [[Chaguanas (parliamentary constituency)|constituency of Chaguanas]], and won. Under the leadership of [[Arthur Napoleon Raymond Robinson]], the NAR had massive success at the polls, winning an unprecedented 33 of the 36 constituencies. Dookeran was made a Cabinet member as he was appointed Minister of Planning and Mobilization.

Dookeran later became Deputy Political Leader of the NAR was a senior member of the government, and acted on several occasions as Prime Minister, most notably during the [[Jamaat al Muslimeen coup attempt|attempted coup of 1990]] when Prime Minister [[A. N. R. Robinson]] was held hostage by the [[Jamaat al Muslimeen]].

Dookeran lost his seat in the [[Elections in Trinidad and Tobago#1991 General Elections|1991 elections]].

He later became Senior Economist at the [[United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean]] (UNECLAC). He was also a member of the executive board of the [[Inter-American Development Bank]] (IADB) and the governor of the [[Caribbean Development Bank]] (CDB).

In July 1997 he was appointed as governor of the [[Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago]]. He held that post till 2002.<ref name="governors">{{Cite web|url=https://www.central-bank.org.tt/about/our-history/past-governors|title=Past Governors &#124; Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago|website=www.central-bank.org.tt|access-date=17 March 2020|archive-date=18 September 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240918012853/https://www.central-bank.org.tt/about/our-history/past-governors|url-status=dead}}</ref> Later that year he joined the [[United National Congress]] and won the St Augustine constituency. In October 2005 he succeeded [[Basdeo Panday]] as [[political leader]] of the [[United National Congress]] after being nominated by Panday unopposed. Dookeran would later form his own political party, the Congress of the People (COP), which in coalition with his former party would contest and win the May 2010 snap elections.

Dookeran was appointed [[Ministry of Finance (Trinidad and Tobago)|Minister of Finance]] in 2010<ref name="ministers-of-finance">{{Cite web|url=http://www.finance.gov.tt/about_us.php?mid=31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221094134/http://www.finance.gov.tt/about_us.php?mid=31|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 February 2014|title=Former Ministers of Finance - Ministry of Finance, Republic of Trinidad and Tobago|date=21 February 2014}}</ref> for the new People's Partnership coalition government and began a series of programs designed to jump-start the stagnant economy. His stewardship was confirmed by Standard and Poor's rating of Trinidad and Tobago as AA− with a stable outlook in December 2011. In June 2012, Dookeran was appointed [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (Trinidad and Tobago)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]], a portfolio he held until June 2015.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ttparliament.org/members.php?mid=26&pid=6&id=WDO01|title=Trinidad and Tobago Parliament|website=www.ttparliament.org|language=en|access-date=12 November 2018}}</ref>

==International public official and educator== After his political career, Dookeran became a Professor of Practice at the [[University of the West Indies]] (Saint Augustine Campus) and consultant for international organizations.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.open.uwi.edu/professors-practice-appointed-uwi|title=Professors of Practice appointed at The UWI|website=www.open.uwi.edu|language=en|access-date=4 August 2020}}</ref> He became Under-Secretary-General of EUCLID (Euclid University) in 2019 and was appointed as secretary-general in July 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://m.euclid.int/euclid-announces-winston-dookeran-as-new-secretary-general/|title=EUCLID announces Winston Dookeran as new Secretary-General|website=m.euclid.int|date=3 August 2020|language=en|access-date=4 August 2020}}</ref>

==Publications== * ''Leadership and Governance in Small States. Getting Development Right'', Co-edited with [[Akhil Malaki]]. * ''Identities, State and Markets: Looking at Social Change in [[Latin America]]''. Edited by [[Jose Havet]], published by [[Canadian Scholars' Press]], Inc., 1999. * ''The New Regionalism: Caribbean – Canada Trade Agenda'' (co-authored with Miriam L. Campanella). * ''[[The Caribbean Quest: Directions for Structural Reforms in a Global Economy]]''. Guest joint editor, Special Issue Vol XXVIII: 1–2, ''Nordic Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies''. Published by The Institute of Latin American Studies, Stockholm University, 1999. * ''Choices and Change: Reflections on the Caribbean''. Published by the [[International Development Bank]] and [[Johns Hopkins University]] Press. July 1996. * {{cite book|title=Crisis and Promise in the Caribbean: Politics and Convergence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LLu1CwAAQBAJ|year=2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-15774-8}} Financial Reporting in the Caribbean's Public Sector Assessment and Challenges Winston Dookeran and David Walker (2010) in Studies in Accounting, Finance and Management by Bhattacharyya, Udaybhanu (ed.), Netaji Subhas Open University, Kolkata, India. web: http://www.wbnsou.ac.in/bulletin_board/publications/other_publications/other/studiesinacctfinmangdetails12052011.pdf

==References== {{Reflist}}

'''Works cited''' * {{Cite book| author=Meighoo, Kirk | title=Politics in a Half Made Society: Trinidad and Tobago, 1925–2002 | publisher=Ian Randle Publishers, Kingston, Jamaica | year=2003 | isbn=1-55876-306-6}}

==External links== * [http://www.winstondookeran.com Dookeran's website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100911170840/http://www.winstondookeran.com/ |date=11 September 2010 }}

{{S-start}} {{Succession box| before=[[Basdeo Panday]] | title=Political Leader of the [[United National Congress]] | years=2005&ndash;2006 | after= [[Basdeo Panday]]}} {{S-end}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dookeran, Winston}} [[Category:Trinidad and Tobago economists]] [[Category:Trinidad and Tobago socialists]] [[Category:Members of the House of Representatives (Trinidad and Tobago)]] [[Category:Ministers of foreign affairs of Trinidad and Tobago]] [[Category:Finance ministers of Trinidad and Tobago]] [[Category:Governors of the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Trinidad and Tobago politicians of Indian descent]] [[Category:Trinidad and Tobago Hindus]] [[Category:Congress of the People (Trinidad and Tobago) politicians]] [[Category:1943 births]] [[Category:People from Tunapuna–Piarco]] [[Category:National Alliance for Reconstruction politicians]] [[Category:United Labour Front politicians]] [[Category:People from Mayaro–Rio Claro]] [[Category:Recipients of Pravasi Bharatiya Samman]] [[Category:People educated at Naparima College]]