Former prime minister Patrick Manning turned 68 yesterday, confirming he’d be in Parliament for the upcoming Budget debate. Manning said he had nothing to say on the performance of the People’s Partnership Government or whether he felt vindicated about the warnings he’d given in the last few years, including prior to the 2010 elections.
Speaking from his San Fernando home, Manning also said he was not commenting on speculation that former MP Junior Regrello or Faris Al-Rawi were in the running for the candidacy of the People’s National Movement’s San Fernando East for the 2015 general election.
PNM officials said last week that some top party officials were also eyeing magistrate Lucina Cardinas Ragoonath—wife of PNM frontliner Harry Ragoonath—for the seat, but nothing was confirmed on that. So far they added, “most people in the party” considered Al-Rawi the frontrunner for the seat. Manning has kept a low profile since he suffered a stroke on January 23, 2012.
After he spent a couple days at the San Fernando General Hospital, Manning was airlifted to the prestigious Walter Reed General Hospital in Washington DC for additional medical treatment. The former PM only returned to Parliament in January of this year after getting time off to recuperate, but has not participated in any of the debates on major issues in the House.