That PNM Rowley-Young saga

Beneath the political noise and PNM confusion over the Prime Minister's proposed appointment of Stuart Young, SC, as PM, the question must be asked: Who really caused all this?

It is political leader Dr Rowley’s miscalculation: he put the cart too far before the horse.

Why doesn’t Dr Rowley actually step down as political leader and let the PNM do its business correctly?

In fact, the PNM is now telling Dr Rowley no one man is bigger than the venerable 70-year-old party. Former minister Robert Le Hunte reportedly urged PNM MPs “to stand their ground and not be bullied by Rowley.”

Quite a historic declaration. Former PNM minister Jennifer Baptiste-Primus, with equal courage, has insisted Dr Rowley cannot be allowed to bypass the party’s constitution by prematurely proposing Young as PM.

Further, more confusion yet. Dr Rowley has UNC Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar and the country guessing and unsettled about the exact date for the next election.

Why can’t Dr Rowley give the date? This very permissive section in the Constitution should be reviewed.

Back to the Young vs Pennelope Beckles political bout (11-9) for PM. Both Baptiste-Primus and Le Hunte are right – follow the party’s constitution for appointing a political leader and properly satisfy section 76(a) of the country’s Constitution.

Strictly speaking, Section 76(a) caters for an MP to be PM who is the political leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives. Young is not.

But even so, there is no vacancy yet. Dr Rowley is still there.

So an over-confident Rowley, obviously on advice from an “inner circle,” based his political adventure on sub-section (b) of section 76: that is, the President must choose “the member of the House of Representatives who, in his judgement, is most likely to command the support of the majority of member of that House.”

That is a majority of 21 of 40 (one MP tragically died).

I have a layman's concern with the loose language of section 76(b). Shouldn’t there be a formal statutory count and submission to the President to help validate three phrases in 76(b)?

1.“where it appears to him”

2. “in his judgement”

3. “is most likely.”

Suppose the President “where it appears to him” and “in his judgment” appoints an MP who really does not reliably “command the support of the majority of members"? Sending a formal letter with signatures is ok, but it should be a statutory requirement, and clearly stated so in section 76.

Would the apparent anomaly over Young as PM give President Christine Kangaloo a big, unexpected headache? Maybe not.

A “yet-to-be-cleared up” precedent was set in 1981 when, after Dr Eric Williams’s death, George Chambers was appointed PM by Sir Ellis Clarke and afterwards quickly elected political leader by the PNM in May 1981. That really wasn’t smooth sailing, though. Sir Ellis had to explain why he didn’t select as PM the veterans Kamaluddin Mohammed or Errol Mahabir.

The party wouldn’t want that, explained Sir Ellis. But many people grumbled.

You see, Chambers was a bird-catching, grassroots man too.

In this Rowley-backed Young move, tongues are also wagging behind closed doors or in titillating leaks. Or is the PNM prepared, with PM Young, to make a historic ethnic leap into the future? Make Young a grassroots man, hoping in the end he will be “his own man” and even be as modest, amiable and broad-minded as Pennelope Beckles?

He will have a lot of cleaning up to do after Dr Rowley, especially with crime.

But where is engineer-turned-finance-minister Colm Imbert? Imbert has stoutly faced so many blows and political pressure for ten years. What did he do so?

With this and Beckles’ one foot still in the door, will Young deal be really settled? Yesterday’s General Council's no-doubt-spirited deliberations may provide a clue.

The make-or-break question now is this: Will the PNM officials and members hurriedly close ranks, support a weakened Rowley and legitimise 50-year-old Stuart Richard Young as PNM political leader? Well-travelled with and very close to Dr Rowley as Minister in the PM’s Office, there should really be no big surprise about Young's promotion.

That is how party politics works. Loyalty to the leader trumps almost everything, for obvious reasons.

So far, Young has got a fair measure of support, particularly from the business sector.

But all this will be a long story especially with Amery Browne, Foster Cummings and Faris Al-Rawi around.