As the People's National Movement (PNM) comes face to face with the realities of operating a one-person, one-vote system for the election of its party executive, the major questions that arise are (i) whether outside forces can seek to pad the membership rolls of the party; (ii) whether incumbent officials who are themselves seeking office should be making decisions about who can and cannot vote; and, (iii) whether challenging any member of the incumbent executive is to be regarded as an act of party treason.
The campaign for the election of members of the PNM executive has been affected by all three of these issues. The latest controversy surrounds the rejection of approximately 7,000 applications for membership of the party which have been deemed to be either irregular or suspicious.
Dr Keith Rowley has already publicly stated that there are attempts by outside forces to manipulate the membership list of the PNM (and thereby its voters' list) with the names of persons who are not really seeking membership in the party. The allegation is that these names are being imported into the process by these outside forces to create a particular outcome.
http://www.guardian.co.tt/digital/new-members