The country's two major political parties have embarked on internal party election exercises that reflect different approaches by each of them.Last week, the internal elections for the executive of the PNM took an interesting turn with the indication that former senator and government minister Penelope Beckles-Robinson is going to challenge Dr Keith Rowley for the leadership of the party.
That has already opened the door to all kinds of political machinations that will test the organisational structure of the PNM and raise many issues of a national hue that will range from race and society to gender and politics.
The PNM has never undergone a process such as this, primarily because the party has traditionally anointed its leaders starting with Dr Eric Williams. The best example of this would have been the famous withdrawal and return of Williams in 1973, which left Karl Hudson-Phillips waiting at the proverbial altar. The establishment of the party has always had its way in any contested election for leadership with the Patrick Manning versus Aeneas Wills contest in 1987, and the Manning versus Keith Rowley contest in 1996 proving the point.
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