Saturday, March 20 2010

THE EDITOR: I used to wonder why Prime Minister Patrick Manning dumped so many of his senior, experienced Ministers in selecting a team to contest the 2007 General Election.

Surprisingly I found the answer today (Friday March 19) in a photograph in the Sunday Newsday dated September 15, 2002. It showed Mr Manning flanked by a number of Ministers including Ken Valley, Camille Robinson-Regis and John Rahael and the caption read: Manning blanks Jamaat.”

According to the report, that accompanied the photo, these members of the then Cabinet opposed Manning’s decision to give land at Mucurapo to the Jamaat and virtually forced Manning to withdraw his offer to Abu Bakr announced two days earlier by Manning.

I had forgotten that incredible episode in our history when a sitting Prime Minister offered valuable state lands to the leader of a terrorist group that attempted to overthrow the duly elected NAR government and caused widespread death and destruction in our land.

The photograph in Newsday took me back to 2002 and well do I remember that scene on the television with Manning sitting at a table, his Ministers arrayed behind him telling the nation he had withdrawn the land offer. He went on to win the election a few months after but look at what happened in 2007. Valley - gone; Camille - gone; Rahael -gone; Keith Rowley who was also present was reluctantly selected by Manning to contest but where is he now? Gone!

The only survivor of that episode is Colm Imbert. How long will he last? Manning, like Dr Eric Williams has a long memory.



JOHN COOPER

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