Khan takes Rowley’s House seat

Newly elected Chair-man, Works Minister Franklyn Khan from today makes a dramatic leap in the seating order in House of Represen-tatives to reflect his senior position in the People’s National Movement. Less than one week after his victory at the PNM’s polls, Khan is to be plucked from the back bench and given pride of place next to Prime Minister Patrick Manning in the front row. In the process the seat usually reserved for the Attorney General and for visiting Se-nators has been shifted, one down. “The Prime Minister wants to have ready consultation with his chairman if he so desires,” one political source offered as he commented on the move. “It is an acknowledgement of the importance of the party office,” the source added.

Khan, who represents the crucial marginal seat of Ortoire/Mayaro, is a newcomer to the Parlia-ment. His elevation, which is likely to raise a little more than just eyebrows, would put Khan ahead of some long-standing Mps such as Dr Keith Rowley and Colm Imbert. It is not unusual in the PNM for Prime Ministers to be flanked in the Parliament by senior party members who also happen to hold senior ministerial portfolios. Former PNM leader Dr Eric Williams was flanked by his deputies —Errol Mahabir, Kamal-ludin Mohammed and George Chambers, a tradition which Chambers continued. In the last Manning administration, deputies Wendell Mottley and Keith Rowley sat next to the PM. The front bench is usually reserved for senior ministers, with the order being determined by the leadership.

The only established positions are that of the Leader of Government business and the Prime Minister, who traditionally sit closest to the table of the House, in one-two order. seated directly opposite them are the Chief Whip and the Opposition Leader. After that, anything could play,  political observers stated. In the UNC’s first term, for example, cross-overs Rupert Griffith and Vincent Lasse, whose support was considered critical to the survival of that Government by relieving it of its dependence on the NAR faction, were put to sit right next to then Prime Minister Basdeo Panday and ahead of long-standing members like Trevor Sudama. The rearrangement of the seating order in the House would also put Labour Minister Larry Achong in the back row.