Penny takes charge

WITH HER nomination unopposed as PNM political leader on June 2 and with her marshalling of her first press conference at the Office of the Opposition Leader in Port of Spain on June 3, Pennelope Beckles has taken full custody of the reins of both roles. Some formalities remain, but when it comes to holding the UNC government to account, she is, finally, large and in charge.

Or at least that is how it should be.

The reality faced by Ms Beckles is more complicated.

The April 28 general election loss has left the PNM’s popularity eroded and its authority weakened.

For a party whose members see it as having a natural fit with governance, Ms Beckles faces the unenviable task of simultaneously needing to rebuild credibility at the national level and within the PNM rank and file.

The collapse of the voter base to 224,414 – in an election which saw apathy fuel the lowest turnout since republicanism – suggests a reset is required. Failure to do this before the party goes on the offensive, as it is already attempting to do, will hinder it. Voters know it was in power for ten years.

Ms Beckles, a seasoned and poised politician, understands all of this.

Far from being “quiet,” as some have mischaracterised her first few weeks as Opposition Leader, she has shown she knows there is a time to speak and a time when not to.

The same cannot be said of others within the group she leads.

By leaving Ms Beckles unopposed as leader, Balisier House has reunited the separate roles of leadership of the parliamentary arm and political executive. Yet, healing the rifts generated by the experiment in which Stuart Young served as prime minister and Dr Keith Rowley as political leader won’t happen overnight.

The Opposition Leader’s admission this week that some members expressed dissatisfaction with the election timing is telling.

While Mr Young has removed himself from the executive, he will remain visible in Parliament, where there are only 13 PNM MPs.

Elsewhere, on social media, the overwhelming deference typically shown to male political leaders of the PNM – which saw Dr Eric Williams once, paraphrasing Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, declare “When I talk, no damn dog bark” – is so far not materialising for its first-ever female leader.

At some stage, Ms Beckles will have to make a choice between diplomatic deference to figures from the past and the need to put her stamp on the party.

She will also have to outline a compelling vision of the PNM that isn’t more of the same, notwithstanding the familiar faces in her Senate line-up.

The party convention due on June 29 will be her first big chance to do all this. She must seize the moment.