THERE was a dearth of happy faces at the People’s National Movement (PNM) Convention at Chaguaramas last weekend.

Although it was difficult to tell why few people were smiling, or why the turnout was lower than in recent years, one could speculate that they have become bored with hearing the same thing every year: Promises, picong, and pan.

Even the throngs of youth that flocked to last year’s convention seem to have lost interest in the party as only a handful of them were seen on both days of the weekend-long event.

But by mid-morning on Sunday enough diehard supporters from the notorious “old guard”, Women’s League, and other not-so young arms of the party presented themselves to deliver deafening applause when Prime Minister and PNM political leader Patrick Manning’s addressed the convention.

Still, many milled around the corridors and grounds of the convention building and showed little interest in the proceedings.

But those that filled the main hall came to hear their prime minister “pound” the Opposition, boast about the strides made by the party, and make more promises that may or may not be kept.

They were rewarded with good news about the PNM’s “expertise at work” in all sectors, from social programmes to development projects in various sectors of the economy, “whilst others cannot even conduct a little party election”.

They also applauded when Manning told them that “last year alone 28,000 jobs were created, bringing unemployment to an all time low of 7.8 per cent”.

However, he didn’t say whether the drop was due to the thousands of temporary jobs in the construction industry, or what role the Unemployment Relief Programme (URP) or CEPEP played in the increased employment levels. The attentive audience demonstrated that they were listening to every word as they responded less enthusiastically or not at all when Manning made questionable statements.

For instance, there was silence when the PM said: “We kept inflation to manageable levels despite high oil prices and the impact of inclement weather on the price of food.”

There was also scattered applause when Manning paid tribute to former PNM Prime Minister George Chambers, who he credited with “providing incentives for the retooling the manufacturing sector”.

Chambers, though maligned by PNM and non-PNM alike during his stint as prime minister, has long since been acclaimed as a mean whappie player by his peers at the now closed Red Spot Recreation Club in Curepe in true cavalier fashion, Chambers was known to give inviting incentives also to those who contested his wagers.

Manning spiced up his address to his supporters with liberal doses of picong aimed at the Opposition United National Congress (UNC), effectively taking his supporters’ minds off the PNM’s own troubles with corruption allegations levelled against former party chairman Franklin Khan, who resigned last Friday on the eve of the convention.

PM PATRICK MANNING ... pleased as
punch at the head table.

A cross-section of the crowd.

Constituents from Ortoire/Mayaro came
despite their representative’s resignation.

The UNC got more “pong” from PM
MANNING than the instruments of
Caribbean Vibes Rhythm Section.

PM MANNING’s speech presentation did not interest these youths who preferred to gather under a tree.

... it was standing ovation by members.

MAVIS JOHN serenades at the convention.

Months ago, soon after the allegations of bribery surfaced, Khan repeatedly declared that he was innocent.

Weeks later at a Press conference, Khan insisted that the PNM’s Annual Convention would not be held at the Chaguaramas Convention Centre, its traditional location.

No one present at last weekend’s convention could say if Khan’s troubles with the law led to a change of venue for the convention.

Khan is now facing six charges arising out of the bribery allegations.