Senior Political Reporter
The People’s National Movement (PNM) began hitting the general election ground with walkabouts yesterday in Toco/Sangre Grande, and will be going from constituency to constituency, general secretary Foster Cummings said.
The team yesterday was led by Toco/Sangre Grande MP Roger Monroe, Cummings and prime minister-designate Stuart Young. However, Monroe faced complaints from certain constituents.
The walkabout by about 150 supporters in red PNM jerseys, including Agriculture Minister Kazim Hosein, walked to the accompaniment of music trucks through the North Eastern Settlement. They listened to concerns along the way.
At one point, the group was confronted by a resident, social media activist Warrior Princess (Sandra Emmanuel). In a video posted on Facebook, she is seen confronting the group saying she wanted to speak to her MP, pointing at Monroe. She asked him about his plans for the area.
Young attempted to explain that Monroe had been with them all evening but the woman said she was directing the conversation to the Toco/Sangre Grande MP.
She asked Young: “And you are?! You are Mr Stuart Young?!”
She continued to insist on speaking with Monroe for herself, adding there were a lot of issues with young people in the area. However, the group proceeded to move on and Warrior Princess said: “Why all yuh running off? We asking questions, there are a lot of delinquent youths, why am I supposed to put my hand in red for the balisier? Stuart Young pull him away. If all yuh want my vote, all yuh have to show me why I supposed to vote for the PNM! I want to know why! They shying from the questions!”
Warrior Princess, who said she had “born and grow in a PNM house,” urged residents not to allow members of the PNM group to shake their hands.
“This is the first and last time we go see dem!” she declared.
Monroe reportedly also heard complaints from other residents who said they hadn’t seen him along the way.
However, at the end of the walkabout, Cummings, in an address posted on his Facebook page, stood among cheering supporters, saying he was happy to be supporting Monroe “as we put a whipping on the UNC!”
He added “We’re going to beat the UNC back into opposition. Roger all the way!
“We’re going to make sure that we get the PNM elected to Government once more!”
Cummings later held Monroe’s and Young’s hands up in a victory sign.
He described the event as a “powerful walk” with a “very warm welcome” from the area and said Monroe “continues to be an attentive, effective and humble servant of the people of his constituency.”
“Connecting with the community, listening to concerns, and standing together for progress…this is what true representation is about,” he added.