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  • 1 year ago
Energy Minister Stuart Young will be the next Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago. The announcement was made by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley who stated a poll was conducted during the People's National Movement Parliamentary Caucus Retreat in Tobago and Minister Young won the majority vote.

The announcement was made on Monday afternoon at the Tobago Plantations during a media conference and comes on the heels of Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley's announcement that he would demit office. Elizabeth Williams was at the media conference and has this report.
Transcript
00:00We, as a caucus of the PNM in the House, we discussed at length and we, in the end, came
00:11up with a situation where the entire PNM caucus is in support of Member of Parliament Stuart
00:19Young.
00:20Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley said after he'd emit office, the next step would be made
00:26by the President.
00:28As you would know, once a vacancy arises with respect to the appointment of a Prime Minister,
00:34it falls to the President to respond to that by making an appointment of the person who,
00:43in the President's view, commands the majority in the House.
00:49And those provisions exist in Section 76 of the Constitution.
00:54But why Minister Young?
00:55Dr. Rowley said Minister Young has distinguished himself over the years.
01:01Minister Young has been in government now for, this is going into our 10th year, operating
01:07out of the office of the Prime Minister where he would have seen the government close up
01:12and would have participated in the government.
01:14I have seen him at work on many very detailed and technical assignments and he has not only
01:24done the job but has distinguished himself.
01:27I have worked very closely with Minister Young and while many other members of the Cabinet
01:33could also have been considered, I have no doubt that Minister Young's experience, his
01:39dedication and his commitment to the people of Trinidad and Tobago will ensure that during
01:46the period that he has the responsibility for being Prime Minister, he will continue
01:51to put the people of Trinidad and Tobago's interests first and his competence and experience
01:56will allow us to get the best of an officer in that position.
02:00A PNM convention will take place where Minister Young's appointment will be discussed.
02:07A convention will take place in the PNM and we have discussed it at the earliest and the
02:14earliest that we expect to have that convention is the end of September.
02:20I think it's September 20th, it was last Sunday in September, that's the 28th I think it is?
02:27I think it's the 28th, September 28th.
02:30So that would allow the party members to weigh in and of course in the meantime we would
02:37have dealt with the vacancy that would have been created and the Presidential appointment
02:41deals with that.
02:42Minister Young in a Facebook post thanked the Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and his
02:47colleagues for the confidence they expressed in him.
02:50He said, quote, I would like to sincerely thank my parliamentary colleagues for the
02:55confidence they have expressed in me.
02:58I also thank Dr Keith Rowley MP, Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago for
03:05his continued and exemplary leadership in guiding us through a historic process.
03:12I am proud to be a member of the People's National Movement and look forward to working
03:17tirelessly not only with all our members but also with all citizens of Trinidad and
03:23Tobago as we continue working towards the building of our country and ensuring its future
03:29success end quote.
03:31Elizabeth Williams, TV6 News.
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