"Manning is dead in the water. PNM must ask Manning to stand down": Selwyn Ryan

Political columnist Prof. Selwyn Ryan's latest commentary in the Sunday Express has raised the question of why Prime Minister Patrick Manning so firmly supported UDeCOTT boss Calder Hart when it was clear that Hart was "the most toxic political figure in Trinidad and Tobago".

And he has suggested that it is time for Manning to go.

Ryan noted Manning's favourable comments about the ex-UDeCOTT executive chairman and the Prime Minister's criticism of those who "dared" to speak about against Hart.

"Manning called Hart ’indefatigable’ and called his critics a ’wild reckless lynch mob’ bent on a political hanging. To many, the reason for the support and condonation was obvious. Hart and Manning were assumed to be an ’item’; the former was said to be holding secrets for the Prime Minister and could therefore not be touched without Manning also becoming compromised. In sum, Hart was too big to ’fall’," Ryan wrote.

He said he too felt at times that explanation was the only one that made sense, and that "I could no longer plead ’agnosticism’ when it was argued that we were witnessing a replay of the Williams-O’Halloran saga in which Manning was a bit player."

Ryan said Manning seemed convinced, against all that was being made public at the Commission, that Hart will be found innocent of all charges.

"The possibility thus existed that he was simply being loyal to someone who was his chosen czar in the construction industry, the person whom he had chosen to help achieve his own ambitious ’20-20’ developmental goals in terms of the urban skyline.

According to Ryan Manning seemed so confident of Hart’s innocence that he "quixotically urged us not to rule out the possibility that Hart could one day be made a member of the Integrity Commission."

Ryan suggested that Manning also seemed to be foolish and naive in matters of State, "a naivety which has caused his party and the country great grief, financial waste, and which has led to gross misgovernance...Hart seemed to have been forced to fall on his sword in order to protect the leader."

He also raised the question of the Attorney General's probe of Hart and wondered why manning continued to praise Hart even after he was told that an investigation was underway.

"It would seem that the PM told Hart that clubs were now trumps and that he had to go. What else did they say to each other?" Ryan stated.

"The PNM as a party with pedigree should also recognise that it has a responsibility to get to the bottom of the mess in which its leader currently finds himself. It should therefore not merely echo words about the need for discipline and the need to avoid washing soiled linen public.

"Manning is dead in the water, and the PNM must ask him to ’stand down’ for someone more electable, unless of course he has something to say in the next few days that assuages the fears and concerns of the membership. I doubt that he can do so," Ryan declared.

"Mr Manning is also the duly elected Prime Minister of the country and he must be required to come clean to Parliament and ultimately to the electorate. He has made a mess of things, and there is a price to pay for that. Nemesis is closing in on Hubris."

Read the full column in the Sunday Express

Also read the Express Editorial: Does the PM have something to hide?