THE EDITOR: In the immediate aftermath of the People’s National Movement’s (PNM) devastating defeat in the 2010 general election, something remarkable happened.
One by one the top brass – the political leader, the chairman, the general secretary, the public relations officer – tendered their resignations. It wasn’t merely symbolic; it was a bold and necessary act of accountability. They accepted defeat yes, but, more importantly, they accepted responsibility.
By stepping aside they cleared the runway for the party to rebuild, recalibrate, reposition, and ultimately rebound. And rebound it did. With a new opposition leader swiftly appointed, followed by the election of a political leader and the executive team, the machinery of renewal was set in motion. The PNM, though battered, was given the space and liberty to heal – and the strength to fight again.
Contrast that with the aftermath of the 2025 general election. True, we have witnessed some resignations: the political leader, the chairman, and one deputy political leader bowed out. Two other deputy political leaders had their appointments revoked. But beyond that? A stubborn, almost defiant silence from others who were intimately involved in steering the ship into stormy waters.
Individuals who, by all logical and ethical measures, should have stepped aside alongside their colleagues have instead chosen to dig in their heels, clinging to position and power with an alarming sense of entitlement.
Their unwillingness to vacate their posts – despite being complicit and active participants in the campaign’s disastrous trajectory – represents, sadly, not loyalty to the party, but loyalty to themselves. It reeks of impunity, a refusal to shoulder any meaningful responsibility for the current state of affairs. And in doing so they are not simply standing still; they are standing in the way.
Already an opposition leader has been appointed, and it is widely anticipated – though not a fait accompli – that she will ascend to the helm of the party. But how can renewal truly begin when remnants of the old guard cling to their fiefdoms, when the very architects of failure still hold the levers of internal power?
Their presence exerts a suffocating stranglehold on the party’s forward momentum. Instead of clearing the path for a generational pivot, they have become a dead weight, slowing the stride toward a rejuvenated, re-energised PNM.
Let me be clear, the greatest show of support that these holdouts can give to the new Opposition Leader is not empty declarations of loyalty or half-hearted co-operation from the shadows. It is the simple, courageous act of getting out of the way. The General Council must agree, without delay, for the setting of dates for internal elections, inclusive of the party’s annual convention.
I suggest the appointment of a broad-based committee – representative of the parliamentary caucus in both Houses, rank-and-file members, and party elders alike – to oversee this process transparently and fairly. And they must trigger, forthwith,
