WHERE WAS MANNING

The failure of Prime Minister Patrick Manning to attend Wednesday’s Requiem Mass for the late Pope John Paul 11, in the absence of an official explanation, may be misconstrued by some as an act of discourtesy by the Head of Government of the country. Given the significant importance of the occasion, the PM’s not turning up may have sent the signal that either he or his wife, Mrs Hazel Manning, Minister of Education, who was originally scheduled to accompany him, may have been ill. Indeed, the non-appearance of both, whatever the reason, was peculiar.

If neither was ill nor otherwise unavoidably absent, then their joint absence, nor rather particularly that of the Prime Minister opened itself up to a variety of interpretations. Patrick Manning was invited to the occasion, not in his capacity as a private individual, but rather as Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. And without an explanation for his no-show which, incidentally, could readily have been given when the call was made on his behalf that he would not be coming, it could be seen as a dismissal by the Head of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago of the importance of the occasion by many citizens, Catholic and non-Catholic.

The highly visible empty spaces in the front pew at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, next to His Excellency the President, Professor George Maxwell Richards, and Mrs. Richards, which had been reserved for the Prime Minister and his party, made the PM’s absence all the more conspicuous. It may have been that a pressing matter of State which demanded his immediate attention had suddenly cropped up. But what could this have been that could have led to the call at 3 p.m. that the PM and his party would not be after all at the Mass? Even Minister of Culture, Senator Joan Yuille-Williams, who had often acted as Prime Minister, appeared nonplussed by his no-show.

Senator Yuille-Williams, like that of another senior Cabinet Minister, Mr. Ken Valley, Minister of Trade, could only offer: “I don’t know.” In addition, Minister Valley also seemed baffled by the Prime Minister’s non-appearance , a situation made all the more pointed by the acceptance by the President of Trinidad and Tobago, of the invitation to attend. The presence of  two former Presidents, Sir Ellis Carke and Mr. Arthur Napoleon Raymond Robinson, as well as Opposition Leader, Basdeo Panday, made the Prime Minister’s absence all the more glaring.

Indeed Mr. Panday postponed a critical caucus of the UNC to attend the Mass. What Manning could have done, and this would have been in accordance with protocol, would have been to designate someone to represent him if he could not or did not wish to attend. A Pope is not only Head of the Roman Catholic Church, worldwide, but by virtue of his office, a Head of State of the Vatican. So it was not only a religious matter but one of protocol. Sadly our Prime Minister has once again been found lacking.