The People\u2019s National Movement (PNM) says approval for the party to hold its 2026 annual convention at Queen\u2019s Hall has been rescinded, prompting chairman Marvin Gonzales to accuse the authorities of engaging in \u201cpetty politics.\u201d
\nGonzales made the disclosure during a media conference following the PNM\u2019s General Council meeting at Balisier House, Port of Spain.
\nAccording to Gonzales, the party had begun preparations for its annual convention, expected to be held in November, and had sought permission to use Queen\u2019s Hall as the venue.
\nHe said approval was initially granted but was subsequently withdrawn by Queen\u2019s Hall management without the party being given a reason.
\nDuring questioning from reporters, Gonzales said his understanding was that approval had been received approximately one month earlier, while notification that the venue was no longer available came approximately two weeks ago.
\nThe PNM chairman also disclosed that the party had received approval to use the Queen\u2019s Hall compound for its annual Carnival fundraiser next year, but said that approval was also later rescinded.
\nGonzales said the party subsequently explored the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA) and Southern Academy for the Performing Arts (SAPA) as alternative venues, but was informed that those facilities would not be available for the party\u2019s activities.
\nHe strongly criticised the developments, describing them as part of what he believes is a wider climate of political retaliation.
\nGonzales characterised the situation as \u201cpolitics of revenge\u201d and \u201cpolitics of retribution,\u201d alleging that the treatment of the PNM represented petty politics.
\nHowever, Gonzales did not present evidence during the media conference establishing that the Government directed Queen\u2019s Hall management to withdraw the approvals.
\nDespite the setback, the PNM says preparations for its annual convention are continuing.
\nGonzales said party groups across all 41 constituencies are conducting annual general meetings and elections as the organisation prepares for its November convention.
\nThe party is also proceeding with its September Affair fundraiser, scheduled for September 26 at the Hyatt Regency. Gonzales said the PNM had received no notification that the venue for that event was no longer available.
\nThe PNM is also preparing to host the second edition of its \u201cForged from the Love of Liberty\u201d Independence event at Port of Spain City Hall on August 30, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
\nFor now, the party says it intends to move forward with its activities while seeking alternative arrangements for its annual convention following the withdrawal of the Queen\u2019s Hall approval.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PNM Says Queen\u2019s Hall Rescinded Approval For Party\u2019s Annual Convention Without Giving Any Reason<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3520,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3521","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-trinidad-and-tobago"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3521\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}