POLITICAL veteran Colm Imbert may back out of the upcoming general election in another instance of the changing of the guards in the PNM.
If the Member of Parliament for Diego Martin North-East declines to face the polls, he will follow Fitzgerald Hinds, the long-serving representative for Laventille West.
With the impending retirement of Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley, this would mean the end of the tenures of the PNM old guard.
Like Rowley, Imbert has been an elected representative since 1991.
Imbert, 67, is reportedly mulling his decision, which will become apparent soon when the ruling PNM resumes screening of prospective candidates.
Well-placed sources said he has been unhappy over several matters, including his displacement as Acting Prime Minister and PNM Chairman, with both posts going to political rising star Stuart Young.
One source said Imbert has acknowledged that he has reached his political peak and that there would be several younger representatives in the next Parliament.
“He appreciates that a new generation is emerging in the PNM,” one source said.
“I think he wants to get out and enjoy the rest of his life.”
Imbert supported Young as Rowley’s successor at last week’s high-profile retreat in Tobago.
His tenure as Minister of Finance has been stressful and fraught with controversies.
Nine of his 10 national budgets have had major deficits, which have been funded by local and international borrowings.
He has been criticised for several policies and programmes, some of which have enabled the greater profits by major entrepreneurs while poverty has become more rampant.
There have been no meaningful efforts to diversify the economy away from petrochemicals.
Imbert has been involved in several legal challenges, including one from Auditor General Jaiwantee Ramdass.
A Privy Court law lord asked last November why Imbert was not being investigated concerning the disputed issue.
In June 2022, former Central Bank Governor Jwala Rambaran won a case against Imbert for unfair dismissal.
Imbert, who is a civil engineer, has held several ministerial positions.
He also served as Leader of Government Business in the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2010.
Until Young’s meteoric rise, he was considered Rowley’s right-hand man and a primary spokesman in the government and the PNM.
If Imbert joins Rowley and Hinds in declining nomination, it would end the parliamentary careers of representatives introduced by former Prime Minister Patrick Manning.
The trio and others were brought in by Manning after he rebuilt the PNM following its landslide defeat in the 1986 general election.
The PNM won 21 of the then-36 seats in the 1991 poll.
All the other elected representatives have since demitted electoral politics.
Manning died in July 2016.
Imbert’s first ministerial posting was as Minister of Works and Transport.
There is speculation that Young would seek to introduce several new candidates.
It is unclear who would contest the Diego Martin North-East seat if Imbert steps aside.
Foreign Affairs Minister Amery Browne will fight Diego Martin West, now represented by Rowley.
