Le Hunte tells PNM vote for authentic candidates

PNM vice chairman candidate Robert Le Hunte has advised party members to vote for “authenticity” in Sunday’s internal election as the new executive will lead the party into the 2019 local government election and then the 2020 general election.

“Elections are very, very important things. This election is a very critical election, an internal election. In the next four years we will be facing three to four elections, and as a political party we have to put our house in order to ensure that we win those elections.”

Without naming any of his opponents for vice chairman, he said the “Red and Rowley” slate of candidates comprised “real people” and not people who have not been seen at party functions over the past six years.

He was addressing the faction’s final cottage meeting at the Point Fortin town hall auditorium, George Road, Mahaica, on Thursday night.

“This team talks about real people. Authenticity is very critical thing to me. This team is made up of individuals, not of people who say that they are PNM today, but when you look at their actions, it is not authentic, because you cannot be a real PNM and walking around but you cannot attend any one of the functions and you can’t be seen over the last five to six years. That is not being real.”

On the economy, Le Hunte, who is also Public Utilities minister, cited the latest IMF country report which said the economy was on a “growth path.”

“We got an economy that was in trouble and shambles, and as you saw coming out of the recent IMF statement on their review, they acknowledged that what we are doing, we are on the right track.

“They acknowledge that the decisions that were taken were the right decisions, and they acknowledge that at the end of the day, the economy is on a growth path going forward.”

The vice chairman’s post is also being contested by Joseph Ross, a former San Juan/Barataria MP, and attorney Ronald Boynes, a former chairman of the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation.