Penny admits: PNM lost touch

Opposition leader Pennelope Beckles confronted some difficult truths as she launched her “One PNM” campaign slate on June 7 at the Arima Angel Harps Pan Yard in Arima.

Beckles’s slate will contest the party’s upcoming internal elections on June 22. She is unopposed for political leader.

“We didn’t lose our way, we just lost touch,” Beckles declared as she warned under her leadership this will not be allowed to happen again.

Noting it was time to “bring back the love” within the party, Beckles said the party has to heal before it could move forward.

She added love and healing, however, mean listening, acknowledging one’s mistakes and accepting responsibility for one’s actions.

“How many of you over the past couple years have felt unheard, unseen, sometimes even forgotten? Come on, put up your hands!”

She said TT has faced a difficult few years battling the covid pandemic, a difficult economic outlook and rising crime levels, all of which took place under a PNM government.

“As a party, we must be honest enough to face the truth. We must be brave enough to say we did not always get it right.

She said these were not excuses, but an admission that the party can and will do better under her leadership.

“There were moments when we were disconnected, when our policies felt distant from people's lives, when our tone felt too hard and our ears not open enough.

“But this is why we are here and this is why ‘One PNM’ was born. Because we know that acknowledging the pain is the first step towards healing it.”

She said the party will adopt a more inclusive approach with the general council meetings moving to various parts of TT.

“The PNM was not born in boardrooms. It was born in the hearts of the working class, the forgotten, the dreamers and the doers. That is the PNM.”

Candidate for the post of chairman Marvin Gonzales dropped a bombshell as he revealed the majority of PNM MPs and senators did not agree with the decision to call an early election.

Gonzales said the party leadership was disconnected from the membership.

He pointed to the general council as an example and said it should be a place where all members can express their views.

“The general council is not only for the political leadership and those who represent constituencies. It must be a space where we take flack and criticism and leaders understand that we must trust the voices of ordinary men and women in TT.

“Had we kept our general council as a space where dissenting voices are heard… Had the voices of most of our MPs and senators been heard, there would have been no early elections in TT.”

He suggested the leadership of the party ignored the grassroots members’ claims that the party was not yet ready for an election.

“If we had only listened and if our leaders had the humility to listen, the PNM would have been preparing for its third term in governance.”