THERE are rumblings by key players within the People’s National Movement (PNM) about Prime Minister Patrick Manning’s established practice of appointing members of the Senate to act as prime minister while he is out of the country on State business.

In the first three years of the Manning administration, the PM preferred Culture Minister Joan Yuille-Williams, but she fell out of favour last year, and Public Administration Minister Lenny Saith is now the PM’s preferred choice.

Stalwart Saith is the Cabinet’s new “Super Minister” following his appointment this week as Energy Minister to replaced embattled Port of Spain South MP Eric Williams, who is facing a slew of corruption charges.

According to one reliable source within the PNM, a clique of parliamentarians have been concerned about the direction that government has been taking or not taking according to how one looks at things, and cautiously discussing the state of the nation among themselves.

“A group of Parliamentarians met in Tobago last year during an international event and there was a vigorous debate about the PNM’s ability to win another general election with Manning at the helm of the party,” the insider stated.

“As a politician, Manning has been a tower of strength, his legacy is secure and he could rank with the likes of founding father Eric Williams.

“Look at what he has done to Basdeo Panday. Manning has outfoxed Panday at every turn, and left the former PM in the doldrums of national politics.

“But where Manning’s stocks dip dramatically is in his role as prime minister. In that capacity, he has been an abject failure.

“He was a failure during his first stint from 1991 to 1995, and he has failed miserably again since 2002, despite escalated oil prices and a dynamic economy.

Dr. LENNY
SAITH

ERIC
WILLIAMS

MONICA
LEWINSKI

BILL CLINTON

“Members of the Chamber of Commerce have literally given up on him, he is too difficult to communicate with and prefers to do things ‘willy-nilly’ on his own whims and fancies.

“The Cabinet is basically a rubber stamp for his wishes as he has surrounded himself with Senate appointments, there is no real debate, what the prime minister wants the prime minister gets.

“People have spoken to him about his practice of appointing people, who have not been elected, to act as prime minister and he has ignored those opinions and gone ahead by appointing Saith when he was in Cuba for his heart checkup last week.

“Of course, the PNM is very disciplined about airing its dirty linen and the disenchantment by small factions within the party will always be kept under wraps.”

The insider then added: “Look at all the chaos going on at Whitehall these days and not one word of it in the media.

“Manning seems to be very distracted by something these days.

“The kind of bacchanal at the PM’s official office could rival the situation when the UNC was in power and there were two deaths at the PM’s official residence as well as the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewenski drama.

“Somebody is going to have to put a cap on it and Manning is the best man for the job.

“A lady in the Senate got the shock of her life when she got a slap from the son of a top PNM official. The boy ‘take in front’ and decide he fighting for his mother’s honour.

“You talk about scandal.

“The woman had some explaining to do to her husband who wanted to know why the young man would slap her like that.

“Certain Parliamentarians are wondering what the hell is going on, and why the PNM has deviated so far from the path of being the caring government.

“And there is the young Lewenski-like woman at Whitehall who is openly doting over the same top official.

“She telling everybody she is so much in love.

“It seems a little childish on her part because she gets to work so closely with him and even travel the world with her secret lover.

“It’s just a bit of fun really, and she should not make too much of it, especially with politics being such a transient profession.

“You know, in today, out tomorrow.”