Imbert: PNM out of touch with people, colour makes him a target

Former Works Minister Colm Imbert says his ethnicity and middle-class background make him a natural target for people to dislike him.
Imbert was speaking in an interview with reporter Clevon Raphael.

Imbert claimed that his party, the People's National Movement (PNM), had lost touch with the people and is no longer attractive to the middle class.

He also said he was strongly opposed to Manning government's controversial property tax, for which he voted in Parliament. He explained that he had to support it because of collective responsibility. The new People's partnership government has scrapped the tax.

Imbert said the people were not happy and were not satisfied with the PNM government.

"I’ll tell you what I had been told, ok?," he said. "I have been told that there was an anti-Manning sentiment, that there was a problem with the Calder Hart...It is difficult for me to say it was justifiable and that people were against Mr Manning," he added.

Imbert felt that PNM leader Keith Rowley helped cause the PNM's defeat in the May 24 general election opposition leader with his aggressive attacks on Manning and the government.

However he admitted that it was not the only cause. "Clearly, there was something much bigger than that. I found he (Rowley) was a little over board and I would not be honest if I did not say the PNM was in trouble, and my difficulty is to establish why," he said.

Imbert said the PNM must address its real problems if it wants to get back into government.

"The first thing we have to do is recognise we were not servicing the needs of the population and then get back to the basics, down to the ground. We have to start listening to the people and once we have a better relationship with the population," he said.
He added that Rowley could lead the party's recovery but only if "he is willing to listen and to accept criticism" adding that he has seen some signs of that willingness.

Commenting on his ethnicity, Imbert said, "I think there are a lot of people who love me too, but there are quite a few who do not like me. That’s a fact, and I would say it is so because I am a natural target...

"Look at my complexion, look at my class background, I came from a university background. People do not naturally associate somebody with my background as being in the PNM," he stated.

He dismissed a suggestion that such a statement is a tragic contradiction of the principles of the party's founder, Dr Eric Williams.

"No, It is not a tragedy," he said, adding: "It is an opportunity for us to remake the PNM into this kind of party."

Read the full interview in the GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER