Gypsy (calypsonian)
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Winston Peters, also known by his sobriquet Gypsy is a Trinidad and Tobago calypsonian and politician. Born in Mayaro he served as the M.P. for Mayaro for the United National Congress between 2000 and 2002. He is also a former U.S. Marine. He is also famous for his calypso Sinking Ship which helped remove the People's National Movement government from power in the 1986 General Elections.
Gypsy also has the distinction of being the first calypsonian to perform for a United States President (having performed for Jimmy Carter).
Peters' election to Parliament in 2000 was challenged by the PNM. On nomination day, the PNM raised the issue that Peters and William Chaitan (UNC candidate for the Pointe-à-Pierre seat) were ineligible to stand for election on the grounds that they held dual citizenship (Peters was a citizen of both Trinidad and Tobago and the United States, while Chaitan was a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago and Canada). The law requires that candidates in General Elections should not owe alleigence to foreign powers. This law was a relict of the 1961 Independence Constitution which did not allow dual citizenship. The 1976 Republican Constitution allows dual citizenship, and under a law passed by the National Alliance for Reconstruction government in 1987 Trinidad and Tobago nationals who gave up their citizenship (for example, by becoming a naturalised citizen of a foreign country) can re-acquire their Trinidad and Tobago citizenship simply by filing an application.
Although the constitution was altered to allow dual citizenship, the election laws were not. Given this internal inconsistency, together with the fact that the term "allegiance" was not defined in the law, the Elections and Boundaries Commission declined to rule Peters and Chaitan ineligible for the elections. After they won their seats, the PNM sought to have the courts overturn the results, but this matter was not resolved during the life of the Parliament.
