Gail Alexander

Prime Minister Patrick Manning left for Cuba last evening, headed for surgery to remove a malignant tumour on his left kidney which was detected in its early stages.

And after revealing the news to reporters at yesterday’s post-Cabinet media briefing, Manning—responding to a query—calmly said:

“I have no fear of death and therefore I have no undue concern on this matter.”

Manning, 62, is expected to return around January 3 or 4. Dr Lenny Saith is acting as Prime Minister in Manning’s

Patrick Manning... off to Cuba for surgery.

in Manning’s three-and-a-half week absence from T&T. It will be the third time that Manning has had surgery in the last 10 years.

In 1998 while Opposition Leader, Manning went to Cuba for heart valve replacement surgery. He has returned to Cuba annually for check-ups ever since.

In 2004, Manning had a pacemaker implanted in the right side of his chest to regulate his heartbeat.

Yesterday, Manning accompanied by his wife , Local Government Minister Hazel Manning, left for Cuba at 5.30 pm on a Copa Airlines flight. He was expected to arrive in Cuba late last night.

Manning was seen off by a number of colleagues, including acting Prime Minister Lenny Saith and Leader of Government Business Colm Imbert.

At yesterday’s post-Cabinet media briefing, Manning revealed his condition as the final item in his preamble to reporters while speaking about his visit to Cuba last week for the Third Caricom-Cuba summit in Santiago de Cuba

After speaking about that summit, Manning said: “I also went to Cuba for medical attention. The medical attention went very well, but the results are not very encouraging.

“It has been discovered that I have a tumour—a malignant tumour—in my left kidney which, has to be removed surgically. “

He said: “ The tumour was discovered in its early stages and so surgical removal is all that is required—no further treatment subsequent to that. Because of the heart condition I have, I’m on a tablet that lengthens the time that it takes for the blood to coagulate. So the process will involve seven days to be weaned off that drug.”

Following that weaning process, Manning said the operation should take place next week Thursday or Friday.

This will be done at the Cimeq Hospital in Havana where Manning had his heart valve surgery.

Surgery will be followed by a two-week recuperation in Cuba before his return.

“So I should return home some time in early January,” Manning said.

Because of this development, Manning said, all ministerial leave had been cancelled and all T&T ambassadors have been mandated to remain at their posts until he returns to T&T.

Manning said he advised President George Richards on Wednesday he would be away from T&T from now until “somewhere around the 3rd or 4th of January—we’re not quite certain,” Manning said.

“But I thought I’d take this opportunity to advise you and through you the national community,” Manning added.

There was long silence after he called for questions.

“No questions?!” Manning said with a laugh.

The questions which followed—on the low oil prices and T&T’s economy—were met with energetic responses as Manning defended Government’s policies and projections in those and other areas.

When queries rolled around to his medical condition, Manning shared how he felt about the situation, “ I have no control over these matters so I just go with the flow... I must tell you something, you know: I have no fear of death, you know. I have no fear of death and therefore I have no undue concern on this matter,” he added.

Manning also explained why the operation wasn’t being done locally. “I have been under the care of Cuban doctors for a long time and it was discovered in Havana and I have been given medical treatment at the Cimeq Hospital in Cuba for over ten years now—that’s how it is,” Manning said.

Manning was also asked about succession in the PNM and—in the event his surgery did not go well—the party having to elect another leader such as ex-minister Keith Rowley whom Manning fired in April.

Manning said, “It will not be my problem, I won’t be here—read my lips, I won’t be here.”

He added, “Dr Williams spent a long time in 1976 making the point that the selection of a successor was not a matter for him. That has not changed and it is not a matter for me. At any rate, why are we discussing a successor? There’s no vacancy.”

When he was told that his “legacies” included certain energy projects, Manning remarked with a laugh: “Normally people talk of legacy after you’ve departed,”

In good spirits throughout, Manning cracked another quip when speaking about crime in other countries he had seen. “I would like to show you what happens...” Manning said, “But I don’t have the means to carry you...”

Manning concluded the briefing by wishing the country Merry Christmas and God’s blessings for the new year.

Manning, a political veteran of 37 years, had revealed his medical condition to his Cabinet team at the end of yesterday’s weekly Cabinet meeting. It is understood that all of Manning’s colleagues wished him well and expressed hope for a successful surgery.

Saith Acts

Acting Prime Minister Dr Lenny Saith will only be able to continue acting as Prime Minister for 24 hours, should Prime Minister Patrick Manning’s medical condition incapacitate him much further than his present condition, a legal source said yesterday.

If that occurs, the President will then have to appoint a Prime Minister from among the members of the party that commands the majority of support in the House of Representatives. That party is currently the PNM.

The Constitution debars any other candidate for the post, save for members of the Lower House.

Apart from Manning, the most senior PNM MPs in the House are:

Deputy House Speaker and non-Cabinet member Pennelope Beckles (Arima),

Leader of Government Business Colm Imbert (Diego Martin North East),

Former minister, now PNM backbencher Keith Rowley.

They noted that when Dr Eric Williams died in 1981, the late George Chambers, a PNM deputy leader, was appointed as Prime Minister. Chambers was an MP as well as party deputy leader.