PNM screens for Diego West, Cumuto/Manzanilla on February 17

RADIO personality and deejay Gail Ann Perrotte is vying to become PNM prospective candidate for Cumuto/Manzanilla, Newsday has learnt.

Also nominated by party groups were Dr Vivian Alexander, a lecturer in statistics at the University of the West Indies, plus Sanjiv Boodhu, an attorney-at-law.

The PNM central screening committee will sit on February 17 at Balisier House, Tranquility Street, Port of Spain, to screen for Cumuto/Manzanilla plus Diego Martin West, held by the Prime Minister, Diego Martin North East (now held by Finance Minister Colm Imbert) and Diego Martin Central (held by Communications Minister Symon de Nobriga). Broadcaster Hans Des Vignes still easily has the most party group nominations for Diego Martin West. Dr Rowley has announced his intention to retire from representative politics before the next general election.

The final tally of party groups for each nominee are: Des Vignes -16, Yokymma Bethelmy - six, Curt Toussaint - two and Lisedi Felix - one.

While Imbert and de Nobriga were unopposed up until the close of nominations, young attorney Raydon Dalrymple-Watts subsequently indicated an interest in vying for Diego Martin North East. Newsday's repeated phone calls to inquire of constituency chairman Spencer Tardieu have gone unanswered.

Meanwhile, on February 11 at its party headquarters in Chaguanas, the UNC will screen five candidates for seats in areas now held by the PNM in the last general elections. These seats are: Laventille East/Morvant, Laventille West, St Ann's East, Port of North/St Ann's West, and Port of Spain South.

PNM sources told Newsday the Cumuto/Manzanilla constituency executive was elated over the three nominees – Perrotte, Alexander and Boodhu – and likely to accept whichever one was chosen by the screening committee. Sources said retired school principal Wayne Gransam withdrew his consent for nomination.

In the past, the constituency had approved the nominations of attorney-at-law Sade Mc Queen-Bernard and procurement officer Latoya Reyes who at that time were then not selected by the screening committee, but this time were invited to again appear before the screening committee but had declined.

The current vacancy arose when former prospective candidate Nadia Ramtahal-Singh had to withdraw owing to work commitments to her public service job.

On January 27, the screening committee, sitting with the constituency executive at Balisier House, interviewed two nominees – farmer Devica Sookoo and engineer Jason Saunders – but asked the executive to widen its search for nominees.

The constituency executive had invited Boodhu to screen, whose family runs a business in Sangre Grande, after he was one of seven people to screen for Malabar/Mausica (formerly the D’Abadie/O’Meara seat once held by the late Lisa Morris-Julian) for which seat influencer Dominic Romain was chosen.

The UNC’s Dr Rai Ragbir won the seat in 2020 with 10,901 votes, ahead of the the PNM’s Ronny Lochan, getting 7,557 votes.

However in the 1970s and 1980s the seat (formerly known as "Nariva") was won for the PNM several times by insurance executive, the late Hardeo “Hardest Hard” Hardath, who for example beat the DLP's Ramprasad Boolai by 2,995 to 1,381 votes in 1971.