The United National Congress (UNC) failed again on Wednesday to get a quorum for its regular meeting of the National Executive (NATEX) and UNC vice chairman Vasant Bharat was forced to postpone the meeting.
The last four out of five NATEX meetings were aborted because of a lack of a quorum.
The situation has left UNC members asking why NATEX members continue to absent themselves from meetings and whether this is a coded sign of a loss of confidence in the leadership of Basdeo Panday.
"Has Panday lost his grip on the National Executive?" one UNC member asked.
Party members are concerned that the continuing problem would prevent the party from conducting its business since the NATEX is the only constitutional body to do that between National Congresses.
They are also asking whether there would be proper financial accountability in the absence of meetings at which the executive approves expenditure.
Members have noted that deputy leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar has missed most of the aborted meetings and are asking if she and others associated with her are deliberately refusing to sit with Panday "because of how he treats her".
They say it seems that the Parliamentary Caucus is undermining the executive and usurping its functions.
One question that has also been raised is whether Panday himself is engineering the boycott of the meetings to prevent three regional Representatives from contributing towards "the development of our party and the betterment of the People of Trinidad and Tobago?"
Don Sylvester, Dr Rupert Griffith and Sylvester Ramquar had been suspended from the executive but a court ruled that the party acted illegally and that they should be reinstated.
One party source also accused the party of double standards. The source said while the three regional representatives are banned for attending meetings of the Parliamentary Caucus others, including former Chagunas Mayor Suruj Rambachan, are permitted to attend and take an active part in the caucus meetings.
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