The rejection of incumbent MP for Laventille West Nileung Hypolite and MP for Laventille East/Morvant Donna Cox will not hurt the People’s National Movement’s chances of an election victory.
So said Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley yesterday, as he addressed journalists on the rejection of the two candidates after attending the T&T Transparency Institute’s Anti-Corruption Conference at the Hilton Trinidad, Port-of-Spain.
Both Hypolite and Cox were rejected by the PNM’s screening committee on Wednesday night. They joined former MPs Paula Gopee-Scoon (Point Fortin) and former prime minister Patrick Manning (San Fernando East) as incumbents who will not get the chance to recontest their seats. However, while Cox and Hypolite faced the screening committee, Gopee-Scoon announced she would not be contesting again, whereas Manning never faced the committee due to health reasons after initially announcing his intention to do so.
Addressing whether the decision to withdraw Hypolite and Nileung from Laventille would hurt the party’s chances of winning, Rowley expressed confidence that this would not happen.
“Certainly not,” he said, adding that the screening process had nothing to do with “personalities” but rather targeted the best selection. “We have a process in the party, we screen quite extensively. Our screening process has been going on since September and that is exactly how the process works.
“We examine people in great detail and the 11-man screening committee determine which persons are best suited at this time to represent the PNM. We are not here about personalities. We respect the process and I am sure that the party members all understand the outcome.”
He also thanked the unsuccessful candidates, saying that the PNM was proud there was such a wide pool of candidates to choose from.
Not end of the road
But Rowley also acknowledged that those who were unsuccessful would be disappointed. “While there might be some disappointment on the part of the persons who are incumbents who are not chosen, having gone through the process of offering themselves again, it is not the end of the road. Sometimes your disappointments are unexpected but all will be well,” Rowley added. He said while the PNM expected those rejected would be disappointed, that was only a temporary feeling and the wider picture would eventually prevail. On the possibility of whether those who were not chosen would want to leave the PNM, Rowley said when they joined the party they joined their “parliamentary position.”
“They joined as members of the organisation and I think that is fundamental to the organisation and to them.
“It would be disrespectful to them if it is thought without justification that because they don’t get the opportunity to continue in office that their membership is in question. That’s not how it is,” Rowley said.