Port-of-Spain South MP Marlene Mc Donald has launched a blistering attack on Pennelope Beckles-Robinson, saying she is not fit to lead the PNM into government in 2015. Speaking in Laventille on Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley platform on Wednesday night, Mc Donald described her performance in the Parliament and Senate as “lacklustre.” She called on Beckles-Robinson, who is challenging Rowley for leadership in the party’s May 18 internal elections, to prove her track record before she offered herself as a credible contender. Today is nomination day for candidates contesting the elections and Beckles-Robinson is expected to name her slate. The nomination process takes place at Balisier House, Port-of-Spain, from 9 am.
The Opposition Whip also cautioned Beckles-Robinson that if she chose to ride on the bandwagon of the PNM Women’s League, where she served as lady vice-chairman, she would expose her.
Mc Donald questioned why Beckles-Robinson waited three years after the PNM lost the election to now want to lead the party. She asked: “Is it because there was a fear of the heavy workload which would have been required to bring the PNM out of opposition back into governance? “Up until now, I have not heard my sister articulate her position on this. “Why wait until the work has been done, three elections have been won and you are now coming from behind with your lacklustre performance in the Parliament to claim all the gains that Dr Rowley has achieved,” she added.
“Go and blaze your own trail and show this national community your track record of performance. Show us your record of achievement, demonstrate to us what you have led successfully.
“I am certain it is not the Women’s League of the PNM.” “Don’t go there. I will expose you. Sister, your performance there is and continues to be dismal. We must examine a person’s track record in order to determine if that person is fit to lead and to govern,” Mc Donald said. Beckles-Robinson was removed from the Senate last year after she failed to register a dissenting vote on the Proportional Representation Bill last October. Rowley said he got resignations from former Senators Fitzgerald Hinds and now St Joseph MP, Terrance Deyalsingh following its passage but none from Beckles-Robinson.