Manning skips PNM independence event as Beckles urges unity

San Fer­nan­do East MP Bri­an Man­ning stayed away from the Peo­ple’s Na­tion­al Move­ment (PNM) pre-in­de­pen­dence event at Port-of-Spain City Hall yes­ter­day, as po­lit­i­cal leader Pen­ne­lope Beck­les used the oc­ca­sion to stress the need for uni­ty, re­spect and dis­ci­pline with­in the par­ty.

Asked by Guardian Me­dia why he did not at­tend the event, Man­ning said, “Pre­ferred qui­et time with my fam­i­ly.”

His ab­sence from the na­tion­al event fol­lows an­oth­er no­table skip over the week­end, when he was al­so miss­ing from a PNM me­dia con­fer­ence at Bal­isi­er House held dur­ing a vis­it by for­mer St Vin­cent and the Grenadines Prime Min­is­ter Dr Ralph Gon­salves.