- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - Aujourd'hui 03:39

Cummings: PNM back in government soon

NEWLY re-elected PNM general secretary Foster Cummings predicts the party will soon be back in government. Cummings made this prediction during his contribution to debate on the Children's Life Fund (CLF) Amendment Bill in the Senate on June 23. Hours earlier, the PNM elections supervisory committee released the preliminary results of the party's internal election results which showed a clean sweep for the One PNM slate led by Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles. The elections were held on June 22 and the results will be officially announced at a special PNM convention on June 29. Beckles was nominated unopposed as PNM political leader on June 2. Cummings contested the general secretary post on the One PNM slate. Two other opposition senators, Dr Amery Browne and Faris Al-Rawi, contested the vice-chairman and public relations officer posts respectively on this slate. Cummings told senators, "The PNM will soon be back in government." He dismissed inaudible comments from government senators in response to his statement. Cummings agreed with concerns raised in the earlier contributions of Browne and Al-Rawi about the health minister being able to determine which applications to the Children's Life Fund Authority (CLFA) could be approved. He said the PNM believes the intention of the bill to be good, but cautioned that bad things could arise from good intentions if proper care is not exercised. Cummings repeated the position stated by Beckles that the PNM will be a responsible parliamentary opposition. He said no one can deny that many existing policies which take care of the vulnerable in society "were in place by a PNM government in the past." Cummings claimed the UNC previously articulated that only a medical doctor should be health minister. He recalled the health minister who piloted the initial CLF legislation in October 2010, Therese Baptiste-Cornelis, was not a doctor. Cummings added she was not a pharmacist either. "We all know how that (Baptiste-Cornelis' political career) ended." He described Baptiste-Cornelis' ministerial career as "very colourful." Baptiste-Cornelis was health minister from May 28, 2010 - June 26, 2011. During her tenure, she admitted to her lack of medical expertise but said she would be guided by her advisers. "As a human resource specialist trainer you go into a system, you don't just do away with the system, you see how you can enhance it." She was subsequently appointed as TT's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Switzerland. Baptiste-Cornelis was fired from that post after making comments that were critical of the then UNC-led People's Partnership (PP) government. The post Cummings: PNM back in government soon appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.