Sto­ries by KEVON FELMINE

Se­nior Re­porter

kevon.felmine@guardian.co.tt

While Prime Min­is­ter Dr Kei­th Row­ley is yet to an­nounce a date for the 2025 gen­er­al elec­tion, the Peo­ple’s Na­tion­al Move­ment (PNM) is call­ing for the nom­i­na­tion of can­di­dates for eight Unit­ed Na­tion­al Con­gress (UNC)-held con­stituen­cies.

These are Ma­yaro, St Au­gus­tine, Ch­agua­nas East, Fyz­abad, Pointe-a-Pierre, Barataria/San Juan, Moru­ga/Table­land, and Ca­roni East. PNM Gen­er­al Sec­re­tary Fos­ter Cum­mings an­nounced the de­ci­sion in a press con­fer­ence at the South­ern Acad­e­my for Per­form­ing Arts, San Fer­nan­do, fol­low­ing the par­ty’s Gen­er­al Coun­cil Meet­ing. Cum­mings said the par­ty in­vites those con­stituen­cies’ units to sub­mit nom­i­na­tions for their gen­er­al elec­tion can­di­dates.

He said the PNM was car­ry­ing out the screen­ing process in phas­es, and this was just the first batch. The screen­ing will take place at Bal­isi­er House, Port-of-Spain. Asked if the PNM would en­ter­tain in­cum­bent Ma­yaro MP Rush­ton Paray fol­low­ing his falling out with the UNC, Cum­mings said the par­ty would see who the nom­i­na­tions pro­duce. Fos­ter said the PNM was search­ing for high-qual­i­ty can­di­dates com­mit­ted to serv­ing their coun­try and con­stituen­cy. He said that par­ty groups, women’s and youth leagues in all con­stituen­cies can nom­i­nate one can­di­date.

“It is a very open process, and it is open to all law-abid­ing, hard-work­ing cit­i­zens,” Cum­mings said.

PNM chair­man Stu­art Young said one PNM prin­ci­ple was peo­ple par­tic­i­pat­ing in the screen­ing process will have high moral stand­ing and in­tegri­ty. They will be peo­ple the PNM be­lieves will up­hold what is best for the par­ty and coun­try and will ful­fil their con­sti­tu­tion­al du­ties.

“That is what you have seen time and time in the PNM. What I can tell you is that you cer­tain­ly will nev­er see in the PNM some­body who is un­der crim­i­nal charge and on bail con­tin­ue to be a sit­ting mem­ber of the Peo­ple’s Na­tion­al Move­ment in the Par­lia­ment. We are very care­ful with those things, and cer­tain­ly, they will not hold any lead­er­ship po­si­tions and roles in the PNM,” Young said.

Asked if the call for nom­i­na­tions sug­gest­ed an elec­tion date would fol­low soon, Young said he would not en­gage in a pre­ma­ture con­ver­sa­tion. He said the PNM was a strate­gic par­ty with a lot of his­to­ry, an ex­cep­tion­al leader, and a good lead­er­ship team, so it de­cid­ed to be­gin the nom­i­na­tion process. He said the process would take place in an or­gan­ised man­ner.

Com­ment­ing on the PNM’s re­cent by-elec­tion vic­to­ry in Lengua/In­di­an Walk, which falls in the Moru­ga/Table­land con­stituen­cy, Young said the par­ty reaped the re­sult of hard work and fo­cus. He said the par­ty won by just un­der 600 votes in an elec­toral dis­trict that the PNM did not hold.

He not­ed that the PNM tied with the UNC in the Au­gust 2023 Lo­cal Gov­ern­ment Elec­tions in that elec­toral dis­trict, so the par­ty was able to in­crease votes there. Al­though the PNM lost the Quinam/Morne Di­a­blo by-elec­tions, it gained more votes than the pre­vi­ous poll day.

“This is not by flukes or by vaps or vie-ke-vie. It is due to the struc­ture of the PNM and the work be­ing done.”

Young said yes­ter­day’s meet­ing was the kick-start of the PNM’s week­end ac­tiv­i­ties at Skin­ner Park, with its cur­ry duck com­pe­ti­tion, crick­et and All-Fours con­test, race, and march past tak­ing place.

The week­end cul­mi­nates with a sports and fam­i­ly day to­day. Cum­mings said the PNM con­tin­ues with its in­ter­nal elec­tions of con­stituen­cy and par­ty units, which are pro­gress­ing well. He said the par­ty will al­so hold its con­ven­tion in the sec­ond week of No­vem­ber in Port-of-Spain.