Former PNM leader Patrick Manning will know tonight if he will contest the San fernando East seat for the Opposition PNM as he and five others appear before the screening committee.
Manning, the incumbent MP for almost 45 years, and four other prospective candidates, former San Fernando West MP Junia Regrello, former San Fernando deputy mayor Malika Blair, councillor Rondell Donawa and businessman Randall Mitchell are expected to say why he/she is best suited to represent the party in the general election due this year.
This will be the second round of screening for the seat as in the first the three candidates who were nominated—Christopher Chinapoo, Kenny Phillips and Eber Steele-Attong—were all rejected. Manning, who has been recovering from a mild stroke on January 23, 2012, said he had recoverered sufficiently to seek re-election. While that was welcomed by many there were party insiders who felt Manning should not seek re-election.
Prospective candidates will be screened from 5 pm at the party’s South Regional Office, Navet Road, San Fernando.