PM: All’s well on Cabinet front

Prime Minister Patrick Manning yesterday sought to put to rest any disquiet consequent upon his Cabinet reshuffle, explaining that all ministerial shifts, including that of Dr Keith Rowley and Howard Chin Lee were lateral, and that Fitzgerald Hinds was not included because he had no basis on which to assess Hinds capability. In seeking to justify his actions, Manning waxed biblical.

The Prime Minister also revealed that contrary to all appearances, Glenda Morean chose to go to London. Manning was speaking immediately after the swearing in of new AG John Jeremie and Ministers of State, Anthony Roberts and Satish Ramroop at President’s House. On the decision to leave out Laventille MP Fitzgerald Hinds, Manning said if Hinds had taken the junior portfolio the last time (last October after the General Election) he (the PM) would have been in a much better position to assess him. Manning stressed however that he did not select Cabinet ministers on the basis of geography — “and that has to do with the Laventille question.”

Manning said he moved Chin Lee because he was restructuring his Government and thought that the Ministry of Tourism was the best place for him to go at this time. Saying that the shift from one portfolio to the next was not promotion or demotion, but an opportunity to train his ministers, Manning said his frequent portfolio shifts in his earlier political years had served him in extremely good stead as Prime Minister.  “All are part of the whole — and I don’t want to get biblical— but St Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians,  spoke about the different parts of the body. The eye cannot say it is better than the nose. If we were all eyes, then who would smell?  And the ears cannot be better than the mouth, if we were all ears then who would eat? In other words we all contribute to a comprehensive and successful whole.”

Told that there was a view that “certain parts” of the Government body or certain ministers — Hazel Manning, Joan Yuille-Williams and Dr Lenny Saith — led a charmed political life and were not touched, Manning said there was no law that said that everyone had to be shuffled in the restructuring of the Cabinet.  “Joan Yuille-Williams had Culture added to her responsibility. If you think that is a blessing, I don’t think she is saying that,” he said. He added that Dr Saith who was previously Planning and Development (in the 1991-1995 Manning administration) cannot be thought of  as having been “demoted” to Public Administration (in this administration). And the movement of Rowley, the Prime Minister stressed, was neither promotion or demotion, but lateral, just as all moves were. “He has served in one ministry, he is now being given a chance to serve in a next, and that is all there is to it,” he said. He added that Rowley had “big shoes to fill” because Martin Joseph did very well in Housing. He said he had no doubt Rowley would do just as well, or better.