Patrick Manning, shown in 2002, twice served as prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago.SHIRLEY BAHADUR/The Associated Press
Patrick Manning, a geologist who led the resource-rich Caribbean nation of Trinidad and Tobago as prime minister through a boom in its petrochemical sector until his party was defeated amid rising crime and corruption, has died at the age of 69.
He served twice prime minister of the twin-island country, from 1991 to 1995 and from 2001 to 2010. Mr. Manning died July 2 in hospital in Port-of-Spain after battling acute myeloid leukemia, his family said in a statement.
Born to poor parents in 1946 in San Fernando, he was a child when Trinidad and Tobago moved toward independence from Britain in 1962. He said his family was so poor that he regularly wore shirts sewn from flour sacks. He excelled as a student and earned a degree in geology at Jamaica's campus of the University of the West Indies, then worked as a refinery operator and later a geologist in Trinidad for the U.S. oil company Texaco.
Trinidad began producing petrochemicals for export in 1959, three years before independence from Britain; the industry blossomed in the ensuing decades and natural gas and petroleum products have been the leading exports in recent years.
Mr. Manning moved into politics in 1971, under the tutelage of black nationalist Eric Williams, the country's first prime minister and founder of the People's National Movement (PNM). Mr. Williams tried to create a national movement, but the PNM never attracted support from the descendants of migrants from India, who make up more than 30 per cent of the population.
Mr. Manning was named minister of energy in 1981; five years later, the PNM lost power amid economic decline and accusations of corruption as oil prices fell and the currency was devalued.
In 1986, he emerged as leader of the PNM, taking one of only three seats its candidates won in the general elections that year. He was credited with rejuvenating the party, especially after the black Muslim group Jamaat al Muslimee, staged a coup attempt in 1990, killing 24 people and briefly holding cabinet members hostage before surrendering.
In 1991 elections, Mr. Manning led the his party to a drubbing of then-prime minister Arthur Robinson's National Alliance for Reconstruction.
Mr. Manning's first government stabilized the currency and further developed the gas sector, fuelling strong growth in the economy. But his administration was also hit by accusations of public corruption. In 1995, he lost power to rival Basdeo Panday,the country's first leader of Indian descent.
In December, 2001, Mr. Manning was selected as prime minister by Mr. Robinson, then the ceremonial president of Trinidad and Tobago, after his party and the United National Congress each won 18 seats in the 36-member House of Representatives. Unable to gain a majority to elect a House speaker, Mr. Manning had to hold fresh elections after nine months. His party won in 2002 and he continued as prime minister.
His popularity fell during his final years as prime minister amid a series scandals and rising crime. The PNM lost the election in May, 2010. Though he kept his seat in the House, he was ousted as party leader.
Mr. Manning, who leaves his wife Hazel-Ann and their twin sons, repeatedly pledged to bring unity to the country, but many of the country's roughly 1.3 million people remain deeply divided along ethnic lines.