Beckles stands by claim that PNM lost its way

PNM political leader-designate Pennelope Beckles made no apologies for acknowledging, at the launch of her One PNM slate in Arima, on June 7, that the party has lost its way.

She doubled down on this claim while addressing a public meeting at the Buccoo Community Centre, Tobago, on June 17, to endorse her slate ahead of the internal election on June 22.

The party suffered a heavy defeat in the April 28 general election, winning just 13 of the 41 seats in the Parliament.

The UNC won the election with 26 seats while the Tobago People’s Party took the two Tobago seats.

Beckles told supporters, “Some people didn’t like when I said we lost our way. Well, we did but it doh mean to say we can’t pick up the pieces. It doh mean to say you can’t find yuh way. Because if you don’t admit that you made mistakes then you cannot recover.”

Beckles, who is contesting the position of political leader unopposed, said under her leadership it cannot be business as usual. She said her team must be willing to work to rebuild the party.

“So even as I have a team, if you on my team and you cannot work hard, then yuh have a problem because those of you who know me and you see me on Facebook, you would understand.”

Beckles said her husband, Noel Robinson, often complains that she works too hard. She said the Arima constituency, which she began representing in 2000, stretches from Las Cuevas to Valencia.

“So the hills that I climb are very much like Tobago East.”

Saying that her office days usually start at 7 am, Beckles scoffed at those who have labelled her as “too soft” to carry out her role as political leader.

“So I doh worry about those who want to get caught up with who talking soft and yuh eh talking enough. It is about you being on the ground and understanding what it is your people want. You willing to the extra mile at any time, day or night to represent the people that you have taken an oath to represent.”

She said PNM supporters, especially in Tobago, are hurting.

“Let me make it plain. It have plenty hurting and there is more hurting in Tobago. When you have lost your both MPs (Shamfa Cudjoe-Lewis and Ayanna Webster-Roy) and you only have one person (Kelvon Morris) in the assembly, that ain’t easy.

“When you move from two to zero or when we move from in total control of the THA to have one person after years of continuous control and after breaking a mould where Mr (William) Mc Kenzie was the lone person for many years and we brought ourselves to where we were and then we take a dive, it have to be painful. The question is, what do we do to find ourselves out of this difficulty we are in where our PNM people have a challenge?”

Beckles, who is also the Opposition Leader, said the party must do some things differently as they rebuild.

“As we recognise that both in Trinidad, in the last elections, and in Tobago, in both the central as well as the THA election, many of our PNM people said, ‘Hear what, yuh see how allyuh was getting on, ah not voting. Let us doh pretend.’

“Where did we go wrong? How do we rebuild? And how do we make a difference? That’s it. Because it cannot be that our people are unhappy and we either tone deaf or we decide, ‘Let it go so. You could decide, ‘Let it go so’ and when you decide, ‘Let it go so,’ we are going to remain in Opposition.”

Beckles also responded to the view by some that she should not have a slate as political leader.

“Having a slate does not mean that you cannot choose who you want. All it means is that the political leader is saying to you that I have these group of people that I am comfortable to work with. But in a democratic party you still have the right to choose who you want.

“And it is important for me to remind many of the people who are objecting to that, that Dr Rowley had a slate on more than one occasion. So too did Mr Manning and so too did Dr Williams. So I am wondering now that I have a slate, why is there so much objection.”

She urged supporters to trust her decision.

“For me, I am saying that if you trust me to lead and I have said to you, ‘These are the persons who have either offered to support me or are comfortable with me, I think you should give me the chance and I am being very blunt and very simple.”