Frankie is PNM Local Govt campaign mgr

Ford added that each regional corporation will have a manager for the election and each candidate will also have a campaign manager.

He said the campaign for the Local Government Election is expected to begin in earnest after the party’s Convention on October 30 at which Political Leader Dr Keith Rowley is widely expected to announce the date for Local Government Elections. In terms of party elections, Ford said that with no challengers, Camille Robinson- Regis has been returned unopposed as Lady Vice Chairman; Daniel Dookie as Assistant General Secretary; Dr Lester Henry as Treasurer and Senator Foster Cummings as Elections Officer.

Also returned unopposed are Dr Indar Parasram as Field Officer; Stuart Young as Public Relations Officer; Jennifer Baptiste Primus as Labour Relations Officer and Ivy Hinds as Operations Officer.

The only contested positions are for Education Officer; Youth Officer and Party Welfare Officer. Ford said balloting will take place from 9 am until 2 pm at the Convention and there will be a ballot box in Tobago to facilitate members of the party in the sister island.

In response to a question, Ford explained that under the PNM Constitution, persons in four positions namely Political Leader; Chairman; Vice-Chairman and General Secretary - hold their posts for four years.

He said this meant that the top four party positions would be up to be filled every four years while the others would be up for grabs every two years. He said that customarily, when new posts are not contested the membership shows little interest in voting in the party elections.

He said the Convention itself will begin at 10 am. One of the highlights will be the presentation of the Vision 2030 policy document, in two parts, one by Robinson-Regis and the other by Colm Imbert, the Minister of Finance.

Candidates for the upcoming local government elections will then be presented and the Convention will climax with the address of the Political Leader and Prime Minister Dr Rowley, who begins his speech at 4.10 pm.

His address will be followed by the announcement of the Deputy Political Leaders, who are chosen by the political leader.

The results of the day’s elections will then be announced.

Ford also announced that the PNM will hold its annual Des Rangeela Divali Celebrations at Constantine Park, Macoya.

The celebration will feature a Divali Queen competition, Tassa competition, East Indian entertainment and the lighting of deyas followed by the distribution of free Indian delicacies and sweets and a grand fireworks display. The event will be carried ‘live’ on television and the Divali Queen will be crowned at the end of the evening.

The party has sent out a call for Queen contestants via social media and the contestants will be screened on October 14. First Prize for the winner of the Divali Queen competition is an all-inclusive trip for two to Tobago with $10,000 worth of spending money. There will also be cash prizes for Best Sari; Miss Congeniality; Best Hairstyle and makeup.

The preliminaries of the Tassa competition will be held on October 23 at the Rise Carpark in Chaguanas with more than $50,000 worth of prizes at stake.

The party will also hold its calypso competition, ‘Celebrating the Calypso Genre’ at the Grand Stand of the Queen’s Park Savannah on November 19. All contestants must submit a new nation building calypso as well as perform a social/political commentary song. There will be two rounds of the competition with the contesting calypsonians performing one song in each round.

Regarding the Nation Building calypso, 30 points each will be awarded for lyrics and melody while 20 points will be awarded for originality and ten points each for rendition and presentation.

For the social/political commentary song singers will earn 50 points for interpretation, and 25 each for rendition and presentation.