Govt in trouble

Political Scientist Dr Indira Rampersad said the Prime Minister’s recent Cabinet reshuffle was part of a strategy to address Government’s lack of popularity before this year’s general election.

“It’s a highly political move and it is pre-election engineering. There are no two ways about that. We are in 2020 and 2020 is the election year, Dr Rampersad said.

Dr Rowley assumes the Planning Ministry portfolio, taking over from Camille Robinson-Regis who is now Minister of Social Development.

Robinson-Regis replaces Cherrie-Ann Crichlow-Cockburn who is now a Minister in the Ministry of Planning.

Parliamentary Secretary and L’tille East/Morvant MP Adrian Leonce moved from the Ministry of Public Utilities to Ministry of Works, while Senator Foster Cummings was appointed a parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government.

“Everything (is) political, especially coming in the wake of a local government election (LGE) in which the Government didn’t perform well. I don’t think that is in any dispute – they lost the popular vote, they lost Sangre Grande and they lost ground in other corporations. I think they are trying to tighten their belts now to get ready for the general election.”

CAMILLE DEMOTED

She said she was unsure of the impact of the reshuffle as she saw a demotion of Robinson-Regis. “If you go from planning, which would rank higher than social development, (to social development) I think that is a clear demotion. So all may not be well in love in politics.”

On the introduction of parliamentary secretaries to the ministries of Works and Local Government Rampersad replied: “Well clearly the ministers are not performing up to par so they need assistance.” She said the new parliamentary secretary in Local Government had to do with the LGE results.

“So despite the fact that the Government is claiming a victory (in the LGE) I think to any layman, (and) this doesn’t take a rocket scientist to deduce that, it was a defeat for the PNM.”

She said unemployment is a big problem, the crime rate has risen despite a new commissioner of police chosen by the Government, there is a lot of disgruntlement in the legal fraternity with issues with the Chief Justice, and even the so-called “one per cent” community may not be happy with the low levels of sales and expenditure within the economy.

“So I think they are aware the Government has been unpopular. They are trying to fix it in a very short space of time.

“Whether it will work or not is left to be seen (and) we have to see how the campaign evolves. But definitely Government thinks it is in some trouble for the general elections and this reshuffle is just one of the many measures (to address that).”

ALL ELECTION PLANNING

She pointed out that the Social Development Ministry tends to target the lower middle class and the poor, so Government would want to give some attention to it, and Local Government touches the lives of the citizens and the burgesses.

Political scientist Dr Bishnu Ragoonath told Newsday that a strategy at this point in time could be seen as a pre-election strategy though Dr Rowley and the PNM would never admit to it.

He pointed out that the three ministries that have been impacted upon, Works, Social Development and Local Government, are deliverable ministries that cater directly to the people. He said putting two parliamentary secretaries where there were none before created a facility to deliver more physically.

“Likewise in the Ministry of Social Development, you now have Camille Robinson-Regis who is someone who is closer to the ground and to the people on the ground in charge of it. “It is all election planning.”

He said the Planning Ministry, however, was not a deliverable ministry, and there was no change one way or another with the Prime Minister taking up the portfolio.