Tension subsided yesterday after the People’s National Movement’s Diego Martin Central executive decided to allow party groups to nominate the prospective candidate for this year’s general election, which is constitutionally due by September.
This move seemed to signal a possible return of incumbent Amery Browne, who had the majority support of the party groups before he was rejected at the national screening session recently.
Following a meeting yesterday, Diego Martin executive vice chair Irene Hinds told the T&T Guardian that all party groups were invited to nominate prospective candidates and the deadline for those nominations was extended from Monday (April 13) to Wednesday (April 15) at 10 am. She said as of yesterday evening, “there was no nomination from the constituency.”
Scores of members had earlier assembled outside the office of Diamond Vale councillor Gail La Touche in support of Browne for the second time this week. On Wednesday, they claimed there was dictatorship in the constituency executive and demanded a say in who was nominated to contest the seat. They said they were standing behind Browne in the hope that he would be given the nod by the party to contest the seat.
Yesterday there was no protest, as many of the members were allowed into the meeting. When the meeting ended many left in agreement with the decision taken.
One member, Ricardo Herbert, said, “It was the right thing to do.” He said a spirit of compromise was reached and that was good for the party.
Herbert said though some people had claimed there was a rift between party leader Dr Keith Rowley and Browne, “neither of them have ever said there was a rift.” He said there must be compromise as the PNM needed the “two good men.” Browne, he said, would be nominated again and he asked the screening committee to “trust us on this one.”
But contacted last night, PNM general secretary Ashton Ford told the T&T Guardian that yesterday’s decision did not mean Browne would be screened a second time. He said while Browne could be nominated again “he cannot be screened a second time.”
“Only new nominees will be screened when the committee meets next week Wednesday at Balisier House,” Ford said.
Browne, who was elected MP in 2007, was among four nominees rejected by the PNM screening committee at its meeting last week. That committee is chaired by Rowley.
In a brief comment last evening, Browne said he was “humbled by the ongoing support of so many decent and honourable citizens of Diego Martin Central and T&T.”
Apart from Diego Martin Central, prospective candidates for Chaguanas East and Barataria/San Juan are also still to be chosen by the committee.
Former TV announcer Diane Baldeo-Chadeesingh withdrew her Chaguanas East candidacy last week for personal reasons and the PNM has been unable to find a suitable candidate for Barataria/San Juan after two rounds of screening.
The PNM has already chosen the candidates for 38 of the 41 constituencies.