PNM Tobago Council gears up for Internal elections

The Tobago Council of the People’s National Movement (PNM) is preparing for its internal election next year.

The party's vice-chairman Wendell Berkley on Monday told Newsday all positions will be up for grabs.

“We start with party groups, and so we nominate and elect the people to serve in the party groups. We go to the constituency groups and from there, we go to the Tobago Council and then we have the Tobago Council convention and then we have our annual convention," he said.

“This year however, in Tobago, we are going to have party groups, constituency groups. Our constitution says that we do things when its constitutionally due, so it is constitutionally due in 2020.".

Berkley said elections are held annually for party groups and constituency groups but the Council’s election in some instances, some of the officers serve a two-year term, while there are others who serve a four-year term.

“What we are having in 2020, would be the people from the two year plus those from the four-year term, so we’ll be having an election for all the officers and that is due in 2020.

“So, Political Leader, Chairman, Vice Chairman and General Secretary will be added to the other officers, whose two-year term will come to an end in 2020,” he said.

Berkley said party members will sit and have discussions on a possible date.

Asked to assess the performance of the current leader of the Tobago Council and Tobago House of Assembly (THA) Chief Secretary Kelvin Charles, Berkley said: “I have not seen or heard anything being stated differently to the fact that he is the Political Leader, duly elected and that our allegiance, our support is for him.

“What happens to the PNM is that regardless of how fierce we vie for positions, when that ends, it ends. If I am the Secretary, even though Mrs Jack and I was fighting for that position, my expectations are, and she will give me the support as I am now Secretary. When the four years or two years pass, then we can spar again. As far as we are concerned, the duly elected people have full support.

“There are a number of people who wants to be PNM, my problem with them is that they just won’t join the party, they stay out there and try to manage the party. Let them come, we have forms.

“We have a number of people, they want to run PNM affairs, don’t run PNM affairs from outside. There is a place where you could run the affairs from outside without being a member, go there but when you come here… join,” he said.

Berkley said people will try to offer alternatives.

"But you have to watch track records. By their fruits you shall know them. We bear the fruits of orderly operations, of constitutional operations, of freedom of speech. The democracy in our party gives us that… when the time comes whether it be a one party or a party of many, you have an opportunity to choose the People’s National Movement,” he said

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"PNM Tobago Council gears up for Internal elections"

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