No problem in the PNM, just a 'miscommunication': Rowley

Keith Rowley said Monday a "miscommunication" caused the division on Friday when three MPs of the opposition People's National Movement (PNM) voted with former PNM leader Patrick Manning contrary to a directive that MPs should abstain.

The vote was in relation to a motion that Manning brought before Parliament asking legislators to allow his lawyer to question witnesses at his hearing before the Privileges Committee of Parliament.

Opposition Whip Marlene McDonald said the directive to abstain was clear and the three MPs who voted with Manning had broken the rules. The matter was discussed at the party's General Council on Saturday at which the party agreed not to take disciplinary action against the MPs.

However, speaking at a media conference, the PNM leader contradicted his Whip. He said it was nothing more than a miscommunication and promised to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Rowley took the blame for what happened. "As the leader, I have a responsibility to try and avoid that from happening. You must understand that there is a certain amount of individual input over which I have no control. Members of Parliament are Members of Parliament in their own right," he said.

PNM Chairman Franklin Khan, who asked the General Council Saturday to discipline the MPs who broke the rules, also changed his tune. He called the matter "a storm in a tea cup" that the government is exploiting to cover its own issues.