In April 2010, Patrick Manning, fearing a palace coup and what might emerge about him and his government in the Opposition's no-confidence motion, shut down the Parliament and called an election halfway through his five-year mandate.
It was a gamble that didn't work–much to the delight of Keith Rowley who had worked hard to demonise Manning and portray the Manning administration (of which he was a part until his dismissal in 2008) as the most corrupt ever–"Ten times worse than what happened in Piarco Airport" was the way Rowley put it.
Manning himself had done a pretty good job at shooting himself in the foot through a lack of a national vision, gross mismanagement, unprecedented corruption and a level of arrogance that caused even some PNMites to shudder. Rowley exploited that and selfishly protected his own turf while he helped cause Manning's fall.
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