[UPDATED] 5 PNM Tobago council members step down since THA election

Kwesi Des Vignes during a political meeting at Mason Hall Secondary School in November. Des Vignes resigned Saturday as PNM Tobago Council PRO.   - File photo/David Reid
Kwesi Des Vignes during a political meeting at Mason Hall Secondary School in November. Des Vignes resigned Saturday as PNM Tobago Council PRO. - File photo/David Reid

The Tracy Davidson-Celestine led PNM Tobago Council has lost four more executive members, on the heels of the resignation of its chairman, after Monday's Tobago House of Assembly election defeat.

The PNM will be seeking a new PRO, lady vice-chair and welfare officer after Kwesi Des Vignes, Marslyn Melville-Jack, a former assemblyman, and Ricardo Warner tendered their immediate resignation via letters to Davidson-Celestine, the council's political leader, on Saturday.

It follows the first two resignations – that of former chairman Stanford Callender and education officer Kurt Salandy, both of whom stepped down on Wednesday, two days after the PNM was beaten 14-one by the PDP.

Callender said his resignation letter to Davidson-Celestine served to "give the party an opportunity to restructure and re-engineer itself going forward."

He said, "It is also my hope that the executive of the council will do the same."

Salandy, in his resignation letter to Callender as chairman, said it "is clear that major personnel and strategic changes have to be affected at the highest level of the council. These changes must start with ourselves as executive members."

Stanford Callender during at a press conference at Pumpmill, Scarborough in 2020. Callender resigned as PNM Tobago Council chairman after the party's 14-1 defeat to the PDP in the THA election. - File photo/David Reid

In his letter Saturday, to Davidson-Celestine, Des Vignes wrote, "After serious consideration and considerable reflection on recent events, I have resolved that it is most appropriate to tender my resignation as public relations officer of the Tobago Council of the PNM with immediate effect.

"I remain available and resolute in my commitment to the party as we rebuild, refocus and recommit ourselves to serving Tobagonians with distinction and honour.

"It was indeed a pleasure to have served in the position of PRO since 2016. The opportunity to work alongside your good self as well as Mr Kelvin Charles as political leaders and all other party members has been a distinct honour."

Warner, in his letter, said under Davidson-Celestine the results in Monday's and the January 25 elections – when it tied six-six with the PDP – were not favourable to the party, with the second resulting in the "almost total annihilation of the PNM from the corridors of the THA legislature." He saw the recent results as a "total rejection of the party's leadership."

The election defeat left some within the party calling for the immediate resignation of the entire 16-member council.

Davidson-Celestine, however, quickly dismissed the idea, saying sudden resignations can have a negative effect on the party.

"Now is not the time for (a) haphazard approach. In the face of adversity and challenges, Mr Callender has left the party. That is his prerogative and we thank him for his service and wish him well," she said in a statement Friday.

PNM PRO Laurel Lezama-Lee Sing confirmed the resignations with Sunday Newsday on Saturday. In a brief interview, she said, "The Tobago council has a certain amount of autonomy, according to our PNM constitution but at the national level, we are paying close attention to the resignations and what is happening with the Tobago council."

Sunday Newsday was unable to reach Davidson-Celestine for comment following the latest resignations. Des Vignes, Melville-Jack and Salandy also did not reply to calls and messages.

PNM Tobago Council leader Tracy Davidson-Celestine. Five members of the 16-member council have resigned since the party's 14-1 loss to the PDP in Monday's THA election. - File photo/David Reid

Davidson-Celestine contested the Signal Hill/Patience Hill seat and lost against PDP candidate Nigel Taitt. Melville-Jack was defeated by PDP's Trevor James for the Scarborough/Mt Grace seat. Des Vignes, Salandy and Warner were not candidates in the election.

Analyst: Resignations show political, democratic maturity

Political analyst Dr Winford James says members of the PNM's Tobago council who have resigned have done so at the benefit of the party.

"This was a crushing loss and somebody must take responsibility for it. I don't know if you've read of responsibility being taken by various persons but I haven't read that. But given the margin of defeat, somebody ought to take some (responsibility). The best people to do so are the people in the executive.

"In the true spirit of democracy and in line with the political ethics that this country is struggling to develop, you lose an election by that margin, one of the best responses in democratic governance is that people resign.

The party then makes a decision about what to do with the resignations, he said, whether to keep some, all or none, but "you can't lose and go on like that in a democracy."

James said he was happy to see Callender take the lead by resigning and that it sets a good precedent for national politics, given that TT is considered a young democracy.

However, he contested the use of Davidson-Celestine's description of a mass resignation of the executive as a "haphazard approach."

There is nothing haphazard in a democracy, he said, if losing leaders resign from their positions.

"There will always be people who will do a better job, or the party will want to send a message that the part structures are more important than the people (in executive positions) themselves.

"If they want to send the message that this is a serious party, as they have always boasted, there is nothing haphazard in resigning."

Marslyn Melville-Jack lost to PDP's Trevor James for the Scarborough/Mt Grace seat in the THA election. - File photo/Ayanna Kinsale

He drew reference to previous calls by members of the opposition United National Congress for its leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar to resign after successive election defeats.

"Remember the last time around, they called on her to resign and she said, 'no,' she has to go and think things over. 'This is not the right time (to resign).'

"People find it hard to give up power and prestige in the Caribbean, I suppose because of the newness of the democracies, but other places in the world as well. So wherever you have fairly new democracies, people want to stay on because they have become enamoured in office and the perks of office, so people have to push them to resign."

This story was originally published with the title "Des Vignes steps down from PNM Tobago Council" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

THE People's National Movement (PNM) in Tobago will be seeking a new public relations officer after Kwesi Des Vignes became the latest member of the party's council to resign after Monday's election defeat.

Des Vignes tendered his immediate resignation in a letter to the council's political leader Tracy Davidson Celestine on Saturday.

It comes on the heels of the resignation of former chairman Stanford Callender, who stepped down on Wednesday, two days after the PNM was beaten 14-1 by the Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) in the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) elections.

Des Vignes's letter stated: "After serious consideration and considerable reflection on recent events, I have resolved that it is most appropriate to tender my resignation as public relations officer of the Tobago Council of the PNM with immediate effect.

"I remain available and resolute in my commitment to the party as we rebuild, refocus and recommit ourselves to serving Tobagonians with distinction and honour.

"It was indeed a pleasure to have served in the position of PRO since 2016. The opportunity to work alongside your good self as well as Mr Kelvin Charles as political leaders and all other party members has been a distinct honour."

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"[UPDATED] 5 PNM Tobago council members step down since THA election"

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