Камала Персад-Биссар: Тринидад және Тобагоның тұңғыш әйел премьер-министрі

Trinidadian and Tobagonian politician, lawyer, and the 6th prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago

Kamla Persad Bissessar ( ; born Kamla Susheila Persad, often referred to by her initials KPB, is a Trinidadian and Tobagonian lawyer, politician and educator who is the Leader of the Opposition of Trinidad and Tobago, political leader of the United National Congress (UNC) political party, and was the prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago from 26 May 2010 until 9 September 2015. She was the country's first female prime minister, attorney general, and Leader of the Opposition, the first woman to chair the Commonwealth of Nations and the first woman of Indian origin to be a prime minister of a country outside of India and the wider subcontinent. Persad Bissessar became political leader of the UNC in 2010. In 2011, Persad Bissessar was named the thirteenth most influential female leader around the world by Time magazine. Persad Bissessar held the premiership from May 2010 to September 2015, where she was also the leader of the People's Partnership a political coalition of centre and center left wing parties that governed the country. Since September 2015, she has been the Leader of the Opposition of Trinidad and Tobago. After the coalition disbanded in September 2015, following their electoral defeat, Persad Bissessar attempted to regain power in the August 2020 elections; however, the UNC only managed to increase their seat count by 2 and the popular vote by 20,000. Nonetheless, the PNM under the leadership of Keith Rowley (who later became Trinidad and Tobago's seventh Prime Minister) maintained power and was re elected, however, with a smaller majority.

Kamla Susheila Persad was born in Siparia in southern Trinidad to Lilraj and Rita Persad, both Hindus of Indian descent. Her father was a bookkeeper and worked in the accounting department of Texaco, while her mother was a maid and labourer in the cocoa fields, who eventually saved up to own and operate a roti shop. Her paternal grandparents were Soomintra Persad (née Gopaulsingh) and Choranji Persad, and her maternal grandparents were Rookmin and Ramprit. Her paternal grandmother, Soomintra, was a market seller who was a founding member of the Saraswati Prakash Mandir, a Hindu temple at Boodoo Trace in Penal, and she had organized a ladies Indian singing and Hindu prayer group, as well as being an elder counsellor who helped those in need. Her maternal grandmother, Rookmin, and her maternal great grandmother, Sumaria, were both laborers in the sugarcane and cocoa fields and both had to become the breadwinners to support their families after their husbands died at young ages. She was born into a Brahmin Hindu Indian family. Persad Bissessar spent her early childhood living in a joint family with her parents and paternal grandparents at Boodoo Trace in Penal, where she attended the Mohess Road Hindu School. In 1959, at the age of seven, her family moved to Siparia where she attended the Erin Road Presbyterian Primary School, and later the Siparia Union Presbyterian Primary School. In 1963, she was accepted to Iere High School in Siparia, a new co ed school at the time. There she was a top debating student, champion badminton and netball player, and she excelled in her classes and was put into special classes to write the GCE O Levels in 1966. She graduated in 1969. After graduating, she taught at St Andrew High School in Kingston and at the University of the West Indies in Mona, and she was also a consultant lecturer at the Jamaica College of Insurance. She was the youngest lecturer, at the age of twenty five, to the ever teach at the University of the West Indies. She was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to attend Columbia University to do research leading to a PhD but she opted to study law instead. In 1985, she graduated from the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill with her Bachelor of Laws (Hons.). During her time UWI, Cave Hill she gave birth to her son. In 1987, she graduated from Hugh Wooding Law School with her Legal Education Certificate at the top of her class, with awards for being the most outstanding student and having the best overall performance. The position of Leader of the Opposition was declared vacant by President George Maxwell Richards after Basdeo Panday was convicted of failing to make an accurate declaration to the Integrity Commission concerning a bank account held in London. Persad Bissessar was subsequently appointed Leader of the Opposition on 26 April 2006.

On 24 January 2010, Kamla Persad Bissessar was elected political leader of the UNC, emerging victorious over the party's founder and former Prime Minister, Basdeo Panday. She was formally appointed opposition leader on 25 February 2010, having gained the support of a majority of UNC MPs.

Persad Bissessar took office as Prime Minister after the victory of the People's Partnership in the general election of 24 May 2010, defeating the previous government of the People's National Movement, which had called an early election. Her election campaign has been analysed as a successful attempt to bring together people with different ethnic backgrounds and ideological affiliations under female leadership. She was the first female prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago and is also the first female Commonwealth Chairperson in Office. She was succeeded as Chairperson in Office by Julia Gillard with the opening of the 2011 CHOGM on 28 October 2011.

On 21 September 2015, Persad Bissessar was appointed leader of the opposition by president Anthony Carmona after her party was defeated at the polls, following the 7 September 2015 general elections. The People's National Movement led by Keith Rowley secured 23 out of 41 seats to form the government, while the People's Partnership coalition led by Persad Bissessar secured 18 out of the 41 seats in the House of Representatives to form the opposition. In the 2020 general election, the People's National Movement won re election and Persad Bissessar remained the Leader of the Opposition. However, the United National Congress did pick up two more seats than previously held.

Persad Bissessar married Gregory Bissessar in 1971 and they have one son. She and her husband reside in Phillipine, Penal Debe, Trinidad and Tobago. She is a grandmother of two and has described herself as an adherent of both Hinduism and the Spiritual Baptist faith. She had raised her brother's children after he died in a car accident.