PNM furious about Penny's appearance at UNC event: Report.

The image that is causing a stir in the PNM

A report in the Express newspaper Tuesday states that the People's National Movement (PNM) is unhappy about its lady vice-chairman Pennelope Beckles-Robinson attending a UNC fund-raising event sponsored Roodal Moonilal.

The paper said this has "provoked heated discussion and controversy" within the party and quoted PNM General Secretary Ashton Ford as saying the party is likely to discuss the matter at Saturday’s General Council meeting.

On Saturday night Beckles-Robinson attended the event at Fun Splash Park, Debe along with several prominent UNC and PP members including Moonilal, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan, PP member Lincoln Douglas, husband of the Prime Minister, Dr Gregory Bissessar, and Housing Development Corporation (HDC) chairman Rabindra Moonan.

The Express quoted PNM sources as saying the pictures of Beckles in the company of political opponents of the PNM "reinforced their assessment of her as being soft on the party’s political opponents."

The paper quoted Ford said as stating that Beckles’ attendance at the UNC function caused “concern and consternation” among the party’s membership and supporters.

“Balisier House was inundated with calls, as well as persons coming into the party’s headquarters expressing their disapproval,” the Express quoted Ford as saying.

Beckles explained to the national media that she attended the event because she was “in the area” and it was “in a public place”.  The park, she explained, is owned by Vijay Ramai, a member of the PNM General Council. However the Express said Ford denied that Ramlal is a member of the council. 

The paper reported that Ford did not accept the explanation about "a public" place. The paper said Ford disagreed with the idea and stated that political meetings are also held in public places and suggested that Beckles-Robinson should not be attending politicals events in a public place unless they are PNM ones.

Penny shakes hands with Jack Warner during the campaign for the CWC byelection

"He added that the pictures on television and in the newspapers indicated that Beckles-Robinson was the only PNM person in the crowd", the Express stated.

The Express quoted an unnamed source who explained why Beckles-Robinson went to the event: “She certainly wanted to be on the front page of the newspapers and she certainly wanted to stir up controversy, because you can’t be a contender in politics if you are not in the public eye. So she definitely did that to start people talking, to start the conversation and have people speculating. It was done definitely to get what she achieved—national attention."

Read related Newsday story:
PNM slams Penny’s UNC curry lime

Tuesday, December 10 2013