Youth officer resigns as discord grips PNM Tobago Council
Claims of division, disconnect and discord have rocked the PNM Tobago Council, with two executive members resigning on the same day. Following chairman Nicole Henry-Waldron out the door was the party’s youth officer, Carlesia Mc Ewen. Unlike Henry-Waldron, who quit the party entirely, Mc Ewen said she remains a PNM member. In her resignation letter, dated October 1, Mc Ewen said her decision was not taken lightly. Elected just over five months ago during the party’s internal elections, she said she had a genuine desire to help develop young people, strengthen the PNM and create a platform for youths to flourish.
However, Mc Ewen said the environment was not conducive to fulfilling her responsibilities, citing a lack of internal support and a clash of principles. “There appears to be a growing disconnect among leadership, accompanied by divisions and tensions that have extended beyond the immediate leadership structure and into the wider organization's membership,” she wrote. Mc Ewen said disagreements and differences of opinion and approach were normal and healthy in organizations. However, she warned that unresolved issues and friction at the executive level were filtering down and harming the party’s supporters.
“We cannot overlook the ripple effects that prolonged discord can have on an organization, particularly when those effects extend into its grassroots structures.” She made it clear that her resignation was unrelated to Henry-Waldron’s.