Griffith: Rowley leaves office with 100% success at elections

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley -

National Transformation Alliance political leader Gary Griffith said The Prime Minister will demit office having a 100 per cent success rate at the polls.

Speaking at the commissioning of the O’Meara Road upgrade project at the Ministry of Works and Transport, O’Meara Road, Arima on February 26, Dr Rowley said he will step down as Prime Minister on March 16.

Rowley was elected PNM political leader after his predecessor, Patrick Manning, was defeated in the 2010 general election by the Kamla Persad-Bissessar-led People's Partnership. He was able to lead the party to victory in the 2015 and 2020 general elections.

"He is leaving, as much as people would see it as a government that did not perform in the way it should, he is leaving with a legacy of a 100 per cent success track record where he has never lost an election in his ten years as a prime minister and he is still deciding to resign with 100 per cent success."

In what appeared to be a veiled jab at the opposition leader, Griffth said it was "amazing that other political leaders, with 100 per cent track record of defeat in the last ten years refuse to follow suit."

He said Rowley's resignation was a good sign for the country as it allowed for the transition of power.

Having entered politics some 45 years ago, Griffith thanked Rowley for his decades of service to the country.

However, Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) political leader David Abdulah was not as forgiving in his send-off.

"Clearly he worked on restructuring the society to the detriment of the vast majority of citizens by implementing neo-liberal policies that supported the traditional...powerful economic elite and multi-national corporations, our local capital and to the great disadvantage and pain and suffering of working people."

Rowley announced he would be resigning at a press conference on January 3. Days later, Minister of Energy and Energy Industries Stuart Young was selected to be his successor.

However, even with a new person at the helm, Abdulah did not have faith in the party's ability to run the country.

"We expect that the same policies will be continued by his anointed successor, Stuart Young.

"Minister Young has been working very closely with Dr Rowley from 2015 after the PM press conferences. He's a Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister. He's held a number of portfolios – the very important National Security Ministry as well as the Ministry of Energy and he has acted as prime minister on a number of occasions."

"It's obvious Dr Rowley saw someone in Minister Young to continue the work he has already begun."

Patriotic Front political leader Mickela Panday said it was a historic moment as it was the first time a Prime Minister would be leaving office before the end of their term.

"As we look ahead, Trinidad and Tobago must focus on rebuilding, uniting, and addressing the pressing issues facing our people."

Honesty, Opportunity, Performance, and Empowerment (HOPE) political leader Timothy Hamel-Smith said it had been coming for some time but people were focusing on how power would be transferred to Young.

Newsday was unable to get a comment from Congress of the People leader, Prakash Ramadhar.