PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - Attorney Pennelope Beckles on Sunday became the first woman to head the main opposition People’s National Movement (PNM) vowing to bring back love to the party that was severely trounced in the April 28 general elections.
Attorney Pennelope Beckles addressing the special convention of the PNM where she was official sworn in as the first female leader of the 69-year-old party (CMC Photo)“On this day, we herald the beginning of the journey to bring back the love to the PNM, to bring back the values that made us strong… Values such as compassion and listening in leadership,” she told a special convention of the party where, along with the other executive members were sworn into office.
Beckles, who was elected unopposed to replace former prime minister Dr. Keith Rowley as PNM leader, said that she is not taking over the helm of the 69 year-old party as a figurehead, saying “I’m not here to be a figurehead or a caretaker, a token or somebody’s pawn.
“I’m here to work, to meet you boldly, to listen to you deeply, and to work with you, with each and every one of you, to restore our great party. So I ask you not for blind faith, but for open hearts. In return for your trust, I make this solemn vow to you. I will lead our PNM with integrity, humility and love.”
Beckles thanked the past PNM including the party’s founding leader, the late Dr Eric Williams and former prime minister the late Patrick Manning, saying “he gave me the opportunity to serve as a councilor in the Arima Borough Corporation in 1992 and first appointed me as a senator in 1995.
“In 2000, he led the screening team and selected me as a candidate for Member of Parliament for Arima. And I served in his cabinet… and he appointed me the first female deputy speaker in 2007.
“For his mentorship, his unwavering support, and the example that he set as a leader of vision and integrity, I will always be grateful.”
Beckles said that while her installation as the first female PNM political leader is a historic milestone, it was also a symbol of the strength of collective vision and the promise of a brighter future.
“It’s about generations of women who dare to believe they belong… not just in the crowd, not just as the backbone of the movement, but now at the helm of leadership, leading, loving, advancing empowerment.
“This moment redefines every future for every young PNM daughter who now knows that there is no space too high and no position too important for them one day to occupy,” she told the convention.
She told PNM supporters, particularly “every single member of the PNM who stayed home recently (in the general election), who felt left behind, who said, ‘I used to support them, but I can’t take it no more’, Come back home.
“We need your wisdom. We need your honesty. We need your experience. Come back to the fold that made this great nation and lead us to be great again. To the undecided, to the skeptical, to the observers, I invite you to take a second look.
“This is a new era, new leadership, a renewed commitment. Join us, help us, hold us accountable, bear with us. We are not just preparing to win elections; we are prepared to win back the hearts and minds and trust of the people,” she said.
In the last general election, the PNM won 13 of the 41 seats giving the United National Congress ((UNC) led coalition, a significant majority in the Parliament.
PNM said that more than 100,000 of its supporters stayed away from voting in the election because of the manner in which former prime minister Stuart Young was selected to replace Rowley.
Meanwhile, PNM chairman, Marvin Gonzales, has told supporters to “get your marching shoes ready” as the party promises to challenge the decision of the Kamla Persad Bissessar government to dismiss 10,000 workers with the Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme (CEPEP).
Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath has said the government will put policies in place to empower the CEPEP workers beyond cutting grass for the rest of their lives and that a more “sustainable” jobs are in the works.
Last weekend, the government terminated the contracts of hundreds of CEPEP contractors and Padarath told a news conference on Sunday that the government plans to return the company to its “original moorings” and get people in more sustainable jobs.
“So, when I hear about the mothers who need to put food on their tables, buy schoolbooks, that is why the government’s thrust, this government’s thrust is to ensure that we have the laptop program, that we can have affordable food prices.
“So, it is not about keeping people in the mindset of cutting grass for the rest of their lives. It is about empowering them and empowering their children to have a better quality of life,” Padarath said, claiming that CEPEP was used as a political pawn to have people go to political meetings.
But Gonzales told the PNM convention “if it is one thing that is going to wake up the PNM fighting spirit is now that they are going after the CEPEP workers,…the URP workers…the reforestation workers.
“They have touched us and we are going to respond, and we are going to respond, and we are going to respond not only in the courts, but we are going to respond politically as well.”
“Today, more than ever, our country needs us, needs the PNM to be great again. In one week, we have lost our Central Bank governor. In one week, the chief executive officer of the Water and Sewerage Authority was similarly dismissed and nine executive officials. All the (300) CEPEP contractors and, by extension, the 10,000-plus workers.
“We are also hearing of job cuts at the Land Settlement Agency, more job cuts at WASA and the reforestation program. And we know that it is only a matter of time before every CEO of every State enterprise, all employed under vigorous recruitment and selection criteria, will now face the acts of hurricane and brutal Padarath,” he said.
