More than 15,000 people gathered at the special People's National Movement (PNM) convention over the weekend, PNM San Fernando East constituency chairman Tina Gronlund-Nunez says. "With regards to the convention, I was most pleased with the turnout," Gronlund-Nunez, a Government Senator, said yesterday in a telephone interview. "The registration count from the people signing in, from my understanding, crossed 13,000." She said the PNM was able to command a high turnout at its special convention although it did not advertise the event much. "It does demonstrate that not only San Fernando East is very well-organised, but it also demonstrated that other constituencies are also very well-organised in that (mobilising its supporters)," Gronlund-Nunez said. "I do not know if you noticed. There were no ads on the radio really."
She anticipated that more than 15,000 persons attended the political event.
"(I was) talking to my area managers this morning, because this (figure) took everyone by surprise," Gronlund-Nunez said. She said she wanted to make sure that everyone was handling it properly and the organisers found out that a lot of the members did not register at all. "So they came out, but they did not worry to go up to the desk to register." She said the failure of PNM members from the San Fernando East constituency to register would have occurred among other constituencies. "And if that happened (among the members) in San Fernando East, I would think it happened in all the other constituencies. "Therefore, a major part (of the attendees) did not register at all. "Therefore, I would say the unofficial count might be over 15,000..."