Le Hunte: Leadership choices matter

FORMER PNM vice-chairman Robert Le Hunte says the path to leadership is as important as who stands at the helm of leadership.

In a statement on April 30, Le Hunte said this is one of the reasons why the PNM lost the April 28 general election, while in Canada, the Liberal Party was re-elected to office in that country’s federal election on the same day.

“In the world of politics, leadership changes can mark either a renewal or a rupture. Recent events in Canada and Trinidad and Tobago provide a stark reminder that the process by which leaders are chosen can be just as important as the leaders themselves – or the outcomes they produce.”

Le Hunte said in January, Justin Trudeau resigned as Liberal Party leader when he was facing declining approval ratings and internal party fatigue.

“Rather than impose a successor or orchestrate a controlled handover, Trudeau allowed the Liberal Party to follow a democratic process. Through a transparent and competitive leadership contest, the party gave its members a voice in shaping its future.”

That exercise resulted in Mark Carney being elected Liberal Party leader. Trudeau then resigned as prime minister, allowing Carney to officially succeed him in this post, with full Liberal Party support.

Le Hunte said that process mattered because the Carney-led Liberals won Canada’s federal election, winning 162 seats in that country’s House of Commons, one more than the number of seats in won in the last election in 2021.

“While falling short of a majority, this performance marked a significant rebound, especially considering the party’s challenges earlier in the year.” Le Hunte said this was different to what happened in TT with Rowley and the PNM.

Similarly leading a government that had lost traction with the public, he continued, Rowley declared he would not contest another election in January. “However, rather than opening the floor to a full and transparent leadership contest within the PNM, Rowley effectively installed his successor, bypassing a broad-based democratic process.”

Last December, Port of Spain North/St Ann’s West MP Stuart Young was selected by a vote of 11-9 by the PNM’s parliamentary caucus to succeed Rowley as PM. Rowley resigned as prime minister on March 16 and Young was sworn in, one day later.

Le Hunte said Young was an imposed leader who entered the election “carrying not just the weight of the party’s previous failures/shortcomings but also the baggage of an opaque selection process.”

He claimed this caused public scepticism to increase and PNM loyalists being divided and demotivated. The UNC, he added, seized the opportunity given to them by the public perception of the PNM’s undemocratic behaviour, arrogance and an uncaring government.

“Mrs Persad-Bissessar also showed humility by publicly apologising to the nation for her previous shortcomings. The rest is history.”

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