Senate Vice President Nigel de Freitas sprang into action immediately as UNC Senator Wade Mark launched an outburst in Senate yesterday.
“… Leh me remind this Johnny Come Lately…” Mark began, retorting to National Security Minister Stuart Young’s earlier verbal jibes.
“Senator Mark, just ask the question…. Minister, try and respond succinctly,” De Freitas told both.
The skirmish was a blip on recent days of Senate sittings, tying up legislative loose ends before end of the current Third Session of the 11th Parliament, near September 28.
Heavier political action has, however, been occurring away from the Parliament chamber as Government continues rolling with the challenges and the Opposition, attempting counter.
The ruling PNM’s executive election campaign has provided opportunity for Government to continue its so far successful push on the Petrotrin refinery closure and reply to other external opponents – more than stone pelting internally at election challengers.
While labour’s recent Day of Rest/Reflection failed on nationwide message regarding the refinery closure – possibly since many quarters have learned over the term to maintain personal meal-ticket interest over extraneous matters – Government’ s management of the closure at this point appears to face more issues from concluding Petrotrin debts than from OWTU and Opposition.
But Government continues testing “temperatures” on the issue. At Thursday’s South PNM meeting, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley acknowledged “all hell” broke loose with the impending closure. Fire may continue until separation, decommissioning and loan aspects are properly completed.
Management of matters closer to PNM homefront is, however, being handled with more finesse.
Rowley’s slate for PNM’s September 30 executive election has adopted a diplomatic stance (publicly), to its 11 challengers, avoiding attacks, clearly seeking to prevent open fighting.
Rowley’s lobbied for cohesiveness (up to Thursday), explaining his desire for a slate, saying no one could defeat PNM if there was teamwork.
While Rowley’s slate is campaigning on the basis of being “Real, Experienced and Dependable (RED)”, key challengers are campaigning with a promise of willingness to “Listen More, Care More” – slogans which speak to deficiencies perceived in Rowley’s PNM.
Key fights loom between Rowley’s contender for general secretary, Senator Foster Cummings – whom Rowley singled out for mention on Thursday – and opponent Chinua Alleyene, nephew of former PNM leader Patrick Manning, and PNM’s former Youth Officer.
Spotlight fight is also between Rowley’s proposed chairman, Finance’s Colm Imbert and former Manning administration minister, Mustapha Abdul-Hamid.
At Abdul-Hamid’s launch last Sunday, not only were frontline members of the former Manning government present, but memories of the late PM’s spirit were invoked via inspirational music he loved. Messages, though as diplomatically put as the Rowley team’s, were clear about challengers’ views on the state of PNM.
How Rowley’s team feels about some types of approaches may have been seen in Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi’s remark at Thursday’s Senate when UNC’s Gerald Ramdeen called for Government to improve outreach with kidnap victims’ families.
“That’s Kamla’s (Persad Bissessar’s) style,” Al-Rawi said.
Amid Petrotrin challenges, Government was quick to seize political opportunity pouncing on Persad-Bissessar’s “Oreo” crack about Rowley. It’s confirmation of the quickening of the political pace that she took a page out of Rowley’s book on PNM’s controversial sari skit – and noted the “Oreo” bitterness. But Persad-Bissessar didn’t apologise/withdraw the statement beyond conceding to use “less sensitive” language.
How successful PNM will be in pinning a “racist” label on Persad-Bissessar, whose leadership stocks have traditionally emphasised unity, remains ahead.
The “Oreo” crunch was bad timing for Persad-Bissessar since the Opposition’s pitch on Petrotrin issue has been affected by Government’s strong play on that matter. Revelation of Petrotrin salaries particularly stands to divide public opinion between the East-West corridor and those perceived as getting “big South salaries.”
Goings-on peak month-end: for PNM’s poll as well as Petrotrin’s refinery.