Briefly examine the structural defects of the West Indian Federation that ultimately led to its demise
Briefly examine the structural defects of the West Indian Federation that ultimately led to its demise
West Indies Federation was a political union that existed for a short time from 3 January 1958 to 31 May 1962. The Islands that were part of the colonies of the UK like Trinidad, Tobago, Barbados, Jamaica, as well as the Caribbean islands, came together to form the Union. They unified to be independent of Britain and form a different single state. They just tried to imitate the concept of Canadian confederation, Australian Commonwealth etc. But very soon the federal problems started getting surfaced
The contest for power started getting emerge between the two largest provinces( Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago) and the smaller ones. The weakness of the federal structure became visible. The first and foremost was Jamaica's dominance over the other constituent parts of the political Union. The provinces were economically discreet and not in a single customs Union because Jamaica opposed. The freedom of movement was also not granted fully within the federation, which hindered the national prospects of a Union. The federal budget was significantly less, and it confined the federal powers. Moreover, The PM's office was also made very weak; he was not allowed to dissolve the parliament like the other Westminster Prime Ministers.
The other reasons for the disintegration could be lack of nationalism, lack of local support. Political feuds started taking place between the influential leaders. Many also opined that Jamaica was unhappy with the federation still holding the colonial status.
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