The next time PNM leader Keith Rowley enters the Parliament, he’ll be entering as Prime Minister of T&T, PNM chairman Franklin Khan said yesterday. Rowley was suspended on May 6 from the Parliament for the rest of the term. The latter ends June 17 to be followed by general election.
After initially boycotting the Parliament after Rowley’s suspension, PNM MPs will return on Friday, to do an Opposition motion but Rowley remains suspended. Khan spoke in launching yesterday’s PNM forum on its policy framework for the 2015 general election, rolling out policy on key areas for the election.
Venue was Radisson Hotel, Port-of-Spain. Many of the candidates wore PNM’s red signature shirts. The all-day event was geared to PNM’s 41 candidates, campaign managers and two platform speakers per constituency. Rowley gave an overview while PNM vice chairman Colm Imbert presented the party policy.
Participants later in the session had a question and answer period. Khan said information had been refined by a process over the term starting with the work of PNM’s Charles Mitchell team revering PNM’s original Vision 2020 policy framework and reformatting this to the Vision 2030 package.
This was deliberated upon at a 2014 think tank during the first day of PNM’s convention last year and suggestions were further added at the completion of that convention. Khan said the current document will form the basis of PNM’s 2015 general election manifesto. Khan said two key factors in bringing about election success was “message and script—everyone must be on the same page.”
The party chairman said the PNM didn’t want policy being made up in front of a microphone on a platform: “Stick to our message and all will be well,” he mandated attendees.