Rallying around Frankie

We are comforted by Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Stuart Young’s assurance on Thursday that Khan is receiving medical care at a world-class facility and is resting comfortably, supported by his wife, Laura.

Khan is not just a senior figure in the ruling People’s National Movement (PNM), but he is also a pillar of the party and the Cabinet, a recipe for extraordinary stress which can register cardiac strain. At the political level, he is PNM chairman, and in government he serves as a senator, Energy Minister and until recently the Minister of Rural Development and Local Government.

Khan is a past Ortoire/Mayaro MP (elected in 2002) and former Minister of Works and Transport.

In his recent year as Minister of Rural Development and Local Government, he was key advocate of the PNM’s proposed reform of local government, which aims to decentralise certain governance roles to regional corporations and so be closer to the people.

Beyond just drafting policy, Khan in person presented the raft of local government proposals to communities nationwide in a series of public consultations which he very ably chaired, taking questions from all comers.

The PNM’s defence of most of its seats in the recent local government election surely owes a lot to Khan, both as the party’s leading advocate of local government reforms and as a campaign strategist.

Khan was also surely a key player in the PNM’s victory in the 2015 general election, including building the party’s credibility to take office.

Most recently, Khan has been appointed as Energy Minister, where he must work closely with Finance Minister Colm Imbert to try to maximise revenues from the country’s biggest earner — the sale of natural gas and oil.

To do this he must consider an overwhelming equation of a complex set of variables, no easy task, but one that benefits from Khan’s expertise as a chemical engineer in the oil industry.

While we salute the 14 years of political public service offered by Khan, as MP, senator, and minister, we cannot ignore the fact of yet another top politician being stymied by health woes.

The list of leaders who have each faced such issues is a long one, and includes Khan’s own leader and the country’s Prime Minister, Dr Keith Rowley, who earlier this year disclosed a visit to California, USA, for specialist testing of his prostate gland after initial concerns were flagged by tests in TT.

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad- Bissessar has admitted to having diabetes, a condition affecting one in seven citizens, and former prime minister, the late Patrick Manning, suffered endless complications leading to a stroke, atop the removal of a cancerous kidney and a lingering heart condition with its genesis in childhood illness.

Even within a population plagued by cardiovascular conditions, diabetes, kidney failure and cancer, our politicians seem to suffer high rates of affliction. One cannot readily dismiss that our politicians are particularly susceptible to such conditions, due to the high strain of having to fulfil the multiple roles of Cabinet/shadow Cabinet, elected MP or member of the Senate, minister, and/or party official.

So, Khan’s illness yet again underscores the need for our politicians to be proactive in the upkeep of their health — adopting lifestyles that include eating heathy, exercising and resting well, both on a daily and periodic basis including vacation leave. No one should begrudge them this.

For the moment, however, we join the many who would be concerned over Khan’s illness and we look forward to him being well and strong again, and back home quite soon.