THREE days after revealing his intention to step down as Prime Minister, Dr Rowley announced on January 6 that Minister of Energy and Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young will replace him as head of the government.
Speaking to reporters during a news conference at the close of the government’s two-day parliamentary retreat at the Tobago Plantations, Magdalena Grand Beach & Golf Resort, Lowlands, Tobago, Rowley said deciding on his replacement as prime minister, and the way forward for the People's National Movement (PNM), were some of the main items on the agenda over the past two days.
He said Young, who has served in various capacities as a government minister over the past ten years, received the majority of support from the party’s parliamentary caucus.
“Once a vacancy arises with respect to the appointment of a prime minister, it falls to the President to respond to that by making an appointment on the person, who, in the President’s view, commands the majority in the House,” Rowley said, adding the provisions are contained in Section 76 of the Constitution.
“So we, as a caucus, as a PNM in the house (of Representatives), we discussed at length and in the end, we came up with a situation where the entire PNM caucus is in support of Member of Parliament Stuart Young, MP for Port of Spain North/St Ann’s West. And we are very pleased to announce that the promise of a smooth transition is going according to plan.”
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Rowley said the PNM was a very stable and democratic organisation.
“In this case, the President would be guided by the expectation of the caucus and there would be no discrepancy between what the President thinks as against what others may think as to who has the majority of support in the House.”
Responding to his appointment in a post of his Facebook page, Young, who turns 50 on February 9, thanked his parliamentary colleagues for the confidence expressed in him.
He also thanked Rowley for his “continued and exemplary leadership in guiding through this historic process.”
ROWLEY CONFIDENT
Young said he was proud to be a member of the PNM and looks forward to working tirelessly “not only with all of our members but also with all citizens...as we continue working towards the building of our country and ensuring its future success.”
During the news conference, Rowley said apart from Young, Minister of Planning and Development and Arima MP Pennelope Beckles-Robinson had also thrown her hat into the ring, but did not get the majority support.
There was speculation that PNM general secretary and Minister of Youth Development and National Service Foster Cummings might also have been in the running.
Rowley declined to say how many parliamentarians voted for Young but expressed confidence in his ability to lead the government.
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“Minister Young has been in the government for about ten years, operating first out of the Office of the Prime Minister, where he would have seen the government close up and would have participated in the government. I have seen him at work on many very detailed and technical assignments and he has not only done the job, but has distinguished himself.
“I have worked very closely with Minister Young, and while many other members of the Cabinet could also have been considered, I have no doubt that Minister Young’s experience, dedication and commitment...will ensure that during the period that he has the responsibility for being prime minister, he will continue to put the people's interest first, and his competence and experience will allow us to get the best from an officer in that position.”
Rowley, who served two terms as prime minister, said he expects Young to step into that position soon.
He said he has several obligations to fulfil, one being the Caricom meeting in Barbados on February 19. That meeting is to be chaired by Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley. That meeting, he said, will be his last.
Rowley said he also has to complete matters involving several Caricom sub-committees, which he chairs.
“Sometime after that I will be able to indicate the actual time I will leave."
Rowley said he also has several domestic matters to wrap up.
“I don’t want to walk away and leave things that I could do easily for somebody else to do with more difficulty. So I am pretty much wrapping up those matters.”
At a news conference in Tobago on January 3, Rowley also announced that he would not offer himself as a nominee for the Diego Martin West seat, which he has represented in the House of Representatives since 1991. He also intends to step down as PNM political leader.
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Asked about the process, Rowley said, “The political leader matter comes up with respect to a convention, because once the resignation is effected, that is a matter involving the President on an appointment in the context of the majority in the Parliament.
“So while we did have some senators here who are ministers, they would not be part of the process, because that is a Lower House matter for elected members.”
OTHER PNM BUSINESS AT HAND
He said a convention is likely to be held on September 28.
Rowley, who turns 76 on October 24, said he has no regrets about quitting politics after 45 years in public life.
“I think that I used my time in a useful way. I have not been always successful in everything I embarked on. But I think by and large, I would like to believe I was able to contribute not only to my life, so that my children could have a country that they could be proud and can have an opportunity to be good citizens, but every other child from every other family.
“So from that standpoint, though there were times when I felt that it was difficult, it was stressful, I always persevered, because I know it was for the benefit of the wider national good.
“If you ask me if I was making a decision today (January 6) as to whether I would go into politics to become a minister or an MP or prime minister, I will tell you a different thing. That is a different story, because I didn’t start today.”
Rowley said he joined the PNM in 1974.
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“At that time, I had a different perspective. I didn’t have a family. I had time on my hand. I had age on my side.
“But I want to see as I leave that public life is viewed as honourable and something in which young people can be encouraged to get involved in, rather than be scared away by this constant stream of hatred, bile and vitriol which some people seem to think must be the portion, once you come into public life.
“Because if that continues to be the way we treat it, and the population buys into the nastiness that people just put out and say that is politics, then good people will stay away from it. And if good people stay away, only a certain kind of people will rush in, and then that is what you will get as your leadership and your management, because there will never be a time when there is no government in this country. We will always get people wanting to be there.”
In the meantime, Rowley said the party’s general secretary has also been guided to open nominations for the two Port of Spain seats and the three Diego Martin seats.
He added the party also has opened nominations for the D’Abadie/O’Meara constituency, left vacant after the death of MP and Minister in the Ministry of Education Lisa Morris-Julian.
Morris-Julian, her son Jesiah, six, and her daughter Xianne, 25, died in a fire at their Farfan Street, Arima home on December 16.
Rowley said the party is preparing for the upcoming general election.
“We are moving steadily ahead to take part in the election that is due sometime this year and the PNM would be very ready, notwithstanding the fact that I am not offering myself in Diego Martin West.”
He said he had spoken to officials in his constituency “and they are quite happy that they are in a position to ensure that there is no hiccup in Diego Martin West.”
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