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FORMER PNM vice-chairman Robert Le Hunte said under the PNM constitution, the party can continue to run with the remaining members of the executive until the convention when a new political leader is elected. He said this must happen within six months.
Political leader Dr Keith Rowley, chairman Stuart Young and deputy political leader Rohan Sinanan resigned on April 30 and Dr Rowley revoked the appointments of deputy political leaders Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly and Colm Imbert.
This leaves general secretary Foster Cummings, lady vice-chair Camille Robinson-Regis and deputy political leader Ancil Dennis as the remaining members of the party executive. On May 1, Arima MP Pennelope Beckles was chosen by the party to be Opposition Leader.
Le Hunte said the current situation where the post of Opposition Leader was filled without someone being in the post of political leader was uncommon.
“In the normal course of things, you will find once the political leader wins his seat and the party is in opposition, the political leader will automatically be opposition leader. There could be a situation where the political leader could lose his seat in the party. In this case we had a political leader separate from a Prime Minister and the political leader did not even go up for a seat and has now resigned.
“The two jobs are separate but in the normal practice of the party, once the political leader is in the House (of Representatives), that person would most likely be the opposition leader. In this case, because of the decisions previously taken, we have to have an opposition leader and then we will now go and select a political leader.”
He said decisions and proposals made by the executive have to be brought to the general council for ratification. He said the constitution does not have a provision for an interim leader.
“We have a leadership in place and that leadership will act as the leadership of the party and make the necessary political decisions that are required until a full executive is put in place.”
Le Hunte said the executive would meet to propose a date for the convention, which is currently scheduled for September.
“Additionally, we had an election that was postponed in December, and there were certain executive positions that were supposed to come up such as vice-chairman. I suspect now that the position of political leader and chairman have come up, an election for political leader will probably cover some of those other positions.”
He said when the PNM lost the 2010 election, prime minister Manning was the political leader, but the general council directed the MPs to vote for Dr Rowley as the Opposition Leader.
“In that case Rowley was the opposition leader, Manning resigned as the political leader and there was a vacancy. Rowley ran in the elections for the political leader and Beckles ran against him. The PNM has been in this position before.
“They are two separate positions. We have voted for Beckles as the Opposition Leader and now that there is a vacancy, I suspect she will put her name up to be the political leader, someone might go against her, they might not, and then the party will go through its process under one man, one vote and select a political leader.”
Former PNM senator Jennifer Baptiste-Primus said her focus now is on the rebuilding of the party.
“At this point in time, I am no longer focusing on the loss of office, but I have pitched my gaze to the future, because there is much the PNM can offer. There are many competent people and willing people in the PNM who have been working and are prepared to continue to work.
“We all agree that the PNM is a resilient party. The party has very cemented structures and established procedures. From time to time we would have disagreements, but at the end of the day, it is like a family, we have our disagreements and we move on. The PNM is in the rebuilding process, and I have given my total support to our Opposition Leader and we look towards filling the position of the political leader in the party.”
Former Arima mayor and PNM stalwart Ashton Ford said the borough was elated that Beckles was chosen as Opposition Leader.
“We’ve been working hard on her campaign and she has a good track record, having served in several capacities, including ambassadorial appointments. She served as TT’s permanent representative to the UN for five years.
“Port of Spain, San Fernando and Tobago have all had prime ministers, we haven’t had any.”
On a personal note, Ford said the way the election was lost was painful, as he has been in the party since its founding, having served for the last 57 years with every prime minister of TT from Dr Eric Williams to Dr Rowley.
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