The Opposition PNM goes on retreat to overhaul systems next month, says PNM chief whip Marlene McDonald, who disagrees with fellow MP Colm Imbert’s claim that something is “very, very wrong” in the party.

Imbert made the claim on Wednesday, saying the PNM “must wake up and smell the coffee,” after Monday’s local govenment election defeat. He denied accusations by some PNMites that the absence of himself and fellow Diego MP Amery Browne from the campaign contributed to the PNM’s loss of the Diego Martin corporation. Both were in Europe during the campaign. Yesterday, chief whip McDonald said: “I would have to disagree with Mr Imbert. I don’t know if something is ‘very, very wrong’...It simply takes some people longer to adjust to Opposition than others,” she said. “Suffice to say the PNM knows it has to undertake introspection and we intend to do this immediately.

“We discussed it at Tuesday’s caucus and we will be embarking on a retreat in August when the Parliament is on recess. So, rest assured we will be taking stock.” McDonald said neither Imbert nor Browne notified her or PNM leader Keith Rowley of their absence from the country during the campaign. “The first we knew was when it was announced in the Parliament and it shocked us all...Even Dr Rowley was surprised,” McDonald added. She said she had tried to contact Imbert several times by phone and text message and was told he was in Italy. Browne had said on Wednesday that members were told of his trip. Yesterday, Imbert said that at the end of the July 2 Parliament sitting, he had told McDonald he would be away. He said he offered to give her his submission notes for the upcoming debate on the procurement policy bill ,for which he would have been absent.

Imbert said: “She thanked me for the notes. I also called her on July 3 at home, reminded her of our conversation and asked if she required any more material for the policy debate. She again thanked me and told me to enjoy my trip.” He said McDonald also contacted him around July 4 when he was abroad and asked if he was returning to debate the Police Service Commission appointment. He said he was returning on July 24. She again contacted him twice in the following weeks, he added. Imbert claimed McDonald seemed to have forgotten his earlier conversation with her. “It’s not my fault if she did...We all have memory lapses,” he added.

He said that when he was House leader, four non-ministerial MPs—Rowley, Penny Beckles, Indra Sinanan Ojah Maharaj and Anthony Roberts—did not usually seek the leader’s permission to be away from T&T. “There were occasions when MPs left T&T without informing me and I had difficulty being short on votes for bills,” Imbert said. “I can say without fear of contradition that after Dr Rowley was dismissed from the then Government, I never received any correspondence regarding his absence.” Since it had never been the practice of Opposition MPs or backbenchers to inform the leader of absence, he said he didn’t inform Rowley. Imbert, however, said he informed McDonald.