PDP to PNM: Let's meet to negotiate power-sharing

Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) deputy political leader Farley Augustine says the party is prepared to meet with the People’s National Movement (PNM) on Tuesday to discuss power-sharing in the Tobago House of Assembly (THA).

“In our proposal to the PNM, we asked that both parties meet face to face on Tuesday next week. So, if they are serious, we will meet face to face,” he said on Saturday via Whatsapp.

Augustine was responding to calls by the PNM for both parties to work together in the interest of advancing the island.

In a statement late Friday, the PNM said any negotiation must be based on the principles of good governance and done in an environment of mutual respect.

It further quoted PNM Tobago Council political leader Tracy Davidson-Celestine as saying that once the PDP is “ready for serious discussions, the PNM stands ready.”

The PDP has made it clear that in order for any power-sharing arrangement between itself and the PNM to work, it must be given control of the Division of Finance and the Economy.

The party had also asked previously for the positions of Deputy Chief Secretary and two of the three councillors allocated to the executive while secretarial positions would be split down the middle.

But in its response to the PNM’s counterproposal on Friday, the party noted the PNM’s “silence” on its request for the position of secretary of finance and the economy, “which is critical in ensuring that there is a balance of power between both parties.”

The PDP is also requesting the positions of secretary and assistant secretary of infrastructure, quarries and the environment; secretary and assistant secretary of health, wellness and the environment; and secretary and assistant secretary of settlements, housing and urban renewal.

On Thursday, the PNM recommended the PDP provide a candidate for the posts of deputy chief secretary, deputy presiding officer and be allocated four of the secretarial positions in the THA divisions and one councillor.

The PNM said it will provide the candidate for chief secretary, presiding officer and hold four secretarial positions.

However, Davidson-Celestine said both parties must still meet to “discuss other points we have proposed for an agreement, but when we meet those elements will have to be ironed out.”

On Saturday, PDP political leader Watson Duke described as “child’s play,” the PNM’s calls for negotiations.

“The PDP will not become entangled in that sort of showmanship of the situation in Tobago,” he said.

“The politics of our people is how they live and thrive on a day-to-day basis. How they prepare to meet an unknown future and what do they leave in their past for their children and future generations.

“That is what the PDP is focussed on. We are not too concerned about getting involved in the PNM’s petty politics.”

The PNM and PDP each won six seats in the January 25 THA elections.

Both parties are attempting to devise a strategy to manage the island’s affairs until a solution to the six-six deadlock in the assembly is reached.