Constitutional reform will be on the cards if a PNM government implements the one man-one vote system at national level “as we must,” Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley signalled yesterday. Rowley hinted at this during yesterday’s People’s National Movement (PNM) delegate convention at the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain. At the meeting delegates fine-tuned the Manning Vision 2020 plan for PNM’s Vision 2030 package. Decisions from discussions will form the basis of PNM’s 2015 manifesto.
The opposition party’s policy may be ready in two weeks. Rowley said Vision 2030 will focus on “the road ahead” since PNM will not look back after it is elected to government. He said the next PNM government will make fundamental changes to delivery. He said people liked the one-man one-vote system the PNM used in its May internal election and if the party has to do it at national level “as we must”—since some adjustment were needed—constitutional reform might be involved.
Saying revenue collection is very important, Rowley reiterated PNM’s Revenue Authority plan and expressed concern about mass transportation problems. He also reiterated plans to abolish the Local Government Ministry giving more responsibility to local government bodies and to focus more on primary schools and rolling back crime. Rowley said “pretenders” weren’t giving the truth and the real story on crime is more than the figures “out there.” “The criminal element has too much room to manoeuvre,” he said.
Noting that the Eric Williams’ PNM involved what he said were captains of industry, the professional class, barefoot people, others from St Patrick, Caroni and other areas, Rowley said today’s PNM, adding youths and experienced people, was getting close to its “original moorings as it was in 1956.” He said a vision wouldn’t always go to plan, but when things went wrong, one addressed it, built and stayed the course. He said the PNM hadn’t been the perfect opposition but was vibrant. Rowley said some had felt the PP would last one or two years only, but it seemed likely to last five years. He said no other party has done what PNM did with yesterday’s delegate planning deliberations. PNM chairman Franklin Khan asked delegates to take into consideration T&T attitudes on issues including dependency, lack of self reliance, productivity, space and environmental protection.