Into Parkinson's law?

IT IS true that the Prime Minister has total control over the appointment, transfer and removal of Ministers in his government but, surely, in a country as small as ours there has to be some limitation to the size of the Cabinet. As it now stands, the Cabinet chosen by Mr Manning after the October general elections comprises 24 members, almost the same size as the one he appointed after his party was chosen to take office following the 18-18 electoral deadlock two years ago. Questions arose as to why Mr Manning should want such a large Cabinet, particularly when he made such appointments as a Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs.

Now, the Prime Minister has informed the country that he plans to add another member to his Cabinet, joining the Ministry of Finance which he himself administers. Again, it is the Prime Minister's prerogative to boost the size of his Cabinet at any moment and no one should question his constitutional authority to do so but, at the same time, the PM also should feel some kind of obligation to explain or justify such an appointment particularly when it becomes controversial. According to reports, Mr Manning has chosen Christine Sahadeo, chairperson of National Flour Mills, to be the third Junior Minister in the Finance Ministry. He has yet to confirm this, but the PM himself had informed a recent women's conference that another woman would be joining his Cahinet soon.

As a result, one is entitled to wonder whether the workload of the Ministry or that of the Minister has become so onerous that a third Junior Minister has now become necessary. At first there was some impression that Sahadeo would be replacing Ken Valley in the Finance portfolio, but that has since been denied. What we are now being told is that the responsibilities of Conrad Enill with regard to revenue and expenditure are to be cut in half, so that Sahadeo, a chartered accountant, will take over the revenue department. Why is this split necessary, we do not know. But we believe the country would like to hear some kind of explanation or clarification from Mr Manning, particularly when the removal of Sahadeo from NFM is already creating a furore of its own over who should succeed her. Is the finance job too big for Mr Enill? And why should the stability of National Flour Mills be disturbed by the appointment of its chairperson to a Cabinet post which does not appear to be quite necessary?

Mr Manning must be aware that some of his decisions are arousing public concern as they appear to carry an autocratic tinge, an insensitivity to public feeling. His determination to proceed with the removal of parliament from its traditional seat in the Red House, in spite of widespread opposition to the idea, continues to disturb especially since his apparent intention is to transfer his office into the refurbished Red House. In preparation to occupy this entire one-block building, it would seem that the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance feels the need to appropriately expand the departments of his portfolio; that, at least, provides some kind of explanation for his latest decision. Why little Trinidad and Tobago should have a Cabinet of 26 members is something we would like the experts in government to explain to us. So many ministers may well be necessary for the good government of our country having a population of 1.4 million and covering approximately 2,000 square miles. But we cannot help being sceptical when we consider that the United States President makes do with a Cabinet of 30 members in governing a country of 250 million people covering over three million square miles. Are we into Parkinson's Law?