PNM Tabaquite gets two weeks to find election nominees

PNM general secretary Foster Cummings is giving the PNM Tabaquite constituency executive two weeks to invite nominees to be screened to be the prospective candidate in the upcoming general election, Newsday was told on February 18.

Newsday calculated this deadline to be March 5.

After nominations are received, a date will then be set for nominees to appear before the PNM screening committee at Balisier House. On January 22, a list of prospective candidates was issued by Cummings and it had included the name of Anil Ramjit for Tabaquite.

However, after the successful screening for Cumuto/Manzanilla and the three Diego Martin seats on February 17, Cummings issued a statement saying the PNM chose prospective candidates for 40 of the 41 seats, with the list of approved prospective candidates notably excluding Ramjit. One media house the next day reported him as having been dropped.

Meanwhile, former police inspector Michael Seales who ran for the PNM in 2020 has told Newsday he has not been approached to run again for Tabaquite, but otherwise had little to say on the current vacancy.

Incumbent Tabaquite MP Anita Haynes was due to be screened for the UNC on the evening of February 19 at its headquarters in Chaguanas. In 2020, Haynes won the seat with 11,440 votes, to the PNM’s 5,209 and the PEP’s 221.