A simmering internal conflict within Trinidad and Tobago’s ruling People’s National Movement (PNM) boiled over into a formal public rebuke this week, after party chairman Marvin Gonzales issued a stark warning to San Fernando East Member of Parliament Brian Manning for dragging intra-party tensions into the public sphere. The standoff, which pits Manning against the leadership of his own constituency’s executive committee, has triggered formal party processes and raised the prospect of disciplinary action against the sitting MP if he continues to defy party norms.
The dispute first erupted last week, when Manning took to his public Facebook page to air unreserved criticism and concerns about Patricia Alexis, chair of the San Fernando East Constituency Executive. Within days, the national PNM leadership issued an initial rebuke on Thursday, urging Manning to cease public discussion of internal party business. Not to be outdone, the constituency executive itself responded via Facebook, pushing back against Manning’s allegations and defending its record.
As the public back-and-forth stretched into the weekend, top PNM leadership called an urgent press conference at the party’s Port of Spain headquarters, Balisier House, on Monday to formally address the growing rift. The full slate of senior party leadership was in attendance: vice-chairman Dr. Amery Browne, lady vice-chairman Dr. Nyan Gadsby-Dolly, deputy political leaders Colm Imbert and Sanjiv Boodhu, and general secretary Foster Cummings, signaling the gravity the party placed on the confrontation.
Gonzales told reporters that party leaders had made a good-faith attempt to resolve the dispute behind closed doors on Sunday, hosting a meeting with the San Fernando East Constituency Executive. While Manning received a formal invitation to participate in the mediation-focused gathering, he was notably absent from the talks. “Sunday evening at 5 p.m. the leadership of the party under the directive of honourable political leader met in San Fernando with the executive of the San Fernando East constituency. The Member of Parliament was invited and unfortunately, he was not present at that meeting,” Gonzales confirmed. He added that members of the constituency executive expressed profound distress over the public airing of the conflict, with many reporting that they felt their professional reputations and personal standing had been damaged by Manning’s public accusations. “Many of them were hurt on how the entire fiasco and how this issue is being played out in the public domain,” Gonzales said.
The party chairman outlined the formal timeline for resolving the conflict: an internal inquiry into the dispute between Manning and Alexis is expected to wrap up by Friday, after which the PNM central executive will convene on Saturday to review the panel’s findings. From there, the party’s general council will take up the matter in strict accordance with the PNM’s constitution.
Gonzales stressed that the PNM has long-standing, codified procedures for resolving internal disagreements, and that public name-calling and reputation attacks have no place in the party’s governance framework. “It is not a kangaroo court where these things are ventilated, where accusations are hurled in the public domain to destroy people’s character and to destroy professional reputations. These are not the ways we handle matters,” he said. Addressing Manning directly, Gonzales issued a clear warning: “Mr. Manning is going down a very dangerous path.” He urged the MP to pause, reflect, and allow the party’s internal processes to move forward without further public interference. “It is not good for the interest of the People’s National Movement and we are asking him to allow good sense to prevail and to do some introspection and some self-reflection while the party undertake its processes to resolve these matters, to please conduct himself in a disciplined format,” Gonzales added.
When it comes to potential consequences, Gonzales confirmed that the party already has received formal complaints from aggrieved members that could trigger a disciplinary investigation into Manning’s conduct. He explained that disciplinary action cannot be initiated unilaterally by party leadership; instead, it must be activated by a formal complaint from a registered PNM member, after which an official inquiry is held to determine if there are grounds for sanction. “My understanding is that members are so aggrieved and so concerned at this time that we have already started receiving complaints that we will have to perhaps conduct investigations,” Gonzales said. “It is a process but it is not one that the leadership triggers. It is one that once a complaint is received from any member then there is a process for an enquiry to determine whether or not there is any grounds for disciplinary action.”
Vice-chairman Dr. Amery Browne echoed Gonzales’ warning, urging Manning to reverse course and respect the party’s constitutionally mandated processes. “The course that you have chosen is not a wise course in these circumstances particularly when these matters are currently being addressed and under consideration, on the very organs of the PNM, mandated to treat with them in this (PNM) constitution as we speak,” Browne said. He added: “So, as a colleague as we all are, it is a word of advice. A word of advice to think again, to respect the processes, deliberations, actions, discussions, decisions, the central executive of the party of which you are a member, the general council of the party of which you are a member, the democratic processes of the People’s National Movement and avoid any unnecessary action and deflection and worst of all, any temptation to play the same cards in the public space that members of the UNC Government play every single day.”
Browne also pushed back against speculation that PNM political leader Pennelope Beckles has been absent or uncommitted to resolving the dispute, confirming that Beckles is actively overseeing the process while adhering to the party constitution. He noted that the political leader does not hold unilateral authority to remove elected constituency executives, a power reserved for party bodies under the organization’s governing document. “These processes are not taking place without dedicated and concerned leadership from our duly appointed leader. There are those who feel that a political leader is some sort of emperor, they could remove an executive, they could remove a chairman. It does not work like that,” Browne said. “Again, the party has a constitution to whom the political leader must be beholden as well.”
When contacted by local media outlet the Express for comment on the party’s rebuke Monday evening, Manning declined to make any additional public statements on the dispute.