News

Rowley retains leadership of PNM

Darlisa Ghouralal

December 5, 2022 10:38 PM ET

3 mins read

Ninety-two per cent of voters who turned up to the polls over the three days of voting in the People’s National Movement (PNM) internal election have reposed their confidence in Dr Keith Rowley as their leader.

Chairman of the Elections Supervisory Committee (ESC) Anthony Roberts announced the results at a media conference on Monday, just a day after the final day of voting.

Rowley amassed 8,424 votes while his nearest challenger, Karen Nunez-Tesheira, captured 345 votes, which accounted for four per cent of the votes cast for political leader.

The other leadership challengers, Ronald Boynes and Junior Barrack gained 243 votes (three per cent) and 99 (one per cent), respectively.

Roberts said the fact that it was a four-way race for the post of political leader is testament to the party’s democratic process, as no one was opposed to challenging Rowley.

He noted that to be political leader, a candidate has to gain no less than 51 per cent of the votes, otherwise, a run-off will be triggered.

Official figures provided by Roberts indicated a low voter turnout, with just about 10 per cent of the registered voters making their way to the polls to cast their ballot.  

Voting on day one, November 26, saw 3,582 votes cast, while 5,506 votes were recorded on day two, November 27. The third and final day of voting had 815 votes cast.

In total, 9,903 PNM members voted.  

The ESC Chairman admitted that bad weather over the first two days of voting may have had a role in the low turnout.

Roberts took the opportunity to commend the successful members of the new executive, which will serve for the next two to four years.

He noted that while there are several familiar faces, the majority of the successful candidates are serving on the party’s executive for the first time.

Below is the full list of successful candidates:

Chairman

Stuart Young – 8,398 votes

Vice Chairman

Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly – 7,928 votes

Lady Vice Chairman

Camille Robinson-Regis (Unopposed)

Political Leader

Dr Keith Rowley – 8,424 votes

General Secretary

Foster Cummings (Unopposed)

Assistant General Secretary

Patricia Alexis – 5,607 votes

Treasurer

Kazim Hosein – 7,537 votes

Education Officer

Laurel Lezama-Lee Sing – 7,807 votes

Public Relations Officer

Faris Al-Rawi (Unopposed)

Social Media Officer

Kwasi Robinson – 6,288 votes

Labour Relations Officer

Jennifer Baptiste-Primus – 8,253 votes

Elections Officer

Indar Parasram – 7,319 votes

Field Officer

Terrence Beepath – 7,165 votes

Welfare Officer

Maxine Richards – 6,901 votes

Youth Officer

Jeniece Scott (Unopposed)

Operations Officer

Irene Hinds – 8,141 votes