PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) — Keith Christopher Rowley, who was yesterday sworn in as prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, was five years ago an outcast within his People’s National Movement (PNM).

Former Prime Minister Patrick Manning had once described him as a “raging bull”, and his description of the new head of Government had formed part of the campaign rhetoric that the coalition People’s Partnership Government had used to discredit the 66-year-old scientist, who had had previous experiences serving as a Government minister.

“The minute you oppose my good friend, he gets very, very angry. And if you oppose him strongly, he becomes a raging bull…You don’t know the trouble I have seen. I have had to live with that for 12 years,” Manning had said of Rowley, whom he fired from his Cabinet prior to the 2010 general election.

Rowley himself had sought to calm the waters between the two as the PNM moved to contest the election.

“There is a political ship called the MV PNM, and as a sailor, when your ship goes into battle, that is not time to throw the captain overboard. I am a sailor on the PNM ship and I know what my duty is. And it does not matter what shape the ship is in, don’t give up the ship!

“There will be time enough for dry dock. And there shall be time enough for court marshal when court marshal is due. When the ship is in battle, that is not time to punch holes in the hull. I am a PNM sailor in a PNM ship and I represent the PNM, the party of Eric Williams, Learie Constantine and Kamaluddin Mohammed,” he told supporters in 2010.

It was a statement that he used to full effect, becoming the PNM’s fourth leader in 57 years, soon after Manning, who led the party to defeat in a snap general election he called on May 24, 2010, and was forced to vacate the post.

“The antagonism between Mr Manning and Dr Rowley was played out in Parliament and the wider public arena. Of course, because Mr Manning was the prime minister at the time, Dr Rowley could not indisputably win the bitter internal battle. However, it is ironic that when in 2010 Mr Manning called and lost the general election before the constitutionally due date, Dr Rowley became his successor,” the Trinidad Express newspaper said in an editorial.

“In Dr Rowley’s 26 years of parliamentary service, he displayed consistent values of dedicated service to the people, loyalty, unswerving commitment, trustworthiness as he pursued goal-oriented projects.

“He is articulate, presents logical arguments and communicates well. He has the courage of his convictions and is confident while not being too arrogant. He understands the needs of his constituents and caters to them within the limits of his authority and resources,” the editorial added.

Rowley consolidated his position within the PNM by revamping the party’s constitution and putting himself up for election, even though he still had at least two more years left in office.

Moreover, soon after attaining the leadership of the party, he sought to mend fences with Manning and in a response to a letter, sent by the former prime minister, he said that “in a country where cynicism usually trumps the flight of the positive spirit, where public service is frequently sneered at by many who have never deigned to participate, you more than any of us know the challenges of the path, punctuated by the inevitable highs and lows.

“When all is said and done, we of the PNM, and I dare say of all Trinidad and Tobago, can only confirm to you that you have fought the good fights and, more importantly, you steadfastly kept faith in our country and all our people as you finish your course with the respect and affection which you richly deserve.”

Ferdie Ferreira, a stalwart of the PNM, defended Rowley’s push to become the next prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, noting that on “every occasion since 1991, we have been served by prime ministers who came to office with little or no experience at the Cabinet/ministerial level.

“In my many discussions with friends, political foes, political analysts, party members and several others I am told: “The PNM has a very good chance of returning to power but not with Dr Rowley. On every occasion I am told this, I asked two questions: If Chambers, Manning, Panday and Mrs Persad-Bissessar were qualified to become prime minister, please tell me what disqualifies Dr Rowley from becoming prime minister?

“Most of the time there is no answer. When an answer is forthcoming, it is as follows: ‘He is too combative; he comes across as unapproachable; he is too adversarial; he has no alternative programme; he is only criticising,’ Ferreira said.

He said, too, that some went so far as to express, under confidential cover, that he is a racist, he doesn’t like Indians, and he is too black.

“Any attempt to obtain concrete evidence from them on these accusations is invariably futile,” wrote Ferreira, a founding member of the party.

During the campaign, the coalition had run what it called “a No Rowley” campaign telling voters that the volcanologist, who obtained a doctorate in geology, specialising in geochemistry, was not fit to run the country.

In his speech soon after winning the election on Monday, Rowley said he should not be viewed as a prime minister only for the PNM.

“I am the prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago,” he said, adding he was confident that the country had been placed in good hands.

The “humbled and grateful” politician, who first ran unsuccessfully for office in 1981, told supporters “we have prepared ourselves well, we expect that we will take the responsibilities of managing the affairs of the people of Trinidad and Tobago in a way that will allow us all as a people to look at tonight…as the beginning of a new era”.

Rowley, who is married to attorney Sharon Rowley and is the father of two children, is a known nature lover who was born in Tobago on October 24, 1949. He is the only PNM candidate ever to contest general elections on both islands.

Since 1991, he has been the parliamentary representative for Diego Martin West, but he first entered Parliament in 1987 serving as an Opposition legislator.