Leader of the Opposition Aubrey Norton has shaken up the parliamentary shadow responsibilities for some members of the APNU+AFC Opposition in the National Assembly.

According to reports, AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan, who previously overlooked the Agriculture portfolio, will now take aim at the security sector as he will shadow the Minister of Home Affairs. Ramjattan served as Public Security Minister under the APNU+AFC Government.

The Agriculture portfolio will now be shadowed by MP Vinceroy Jordan, who is from the Region Five community. Geeta Chandan-Edmond who previously shadowed the Home Affairs Ministry portfolio, will now overlook Governance. Chief Whip Christopher Jones will continue to shadow Parliamentary Affairs.

AFC Member, David Patterson’s shadow responsibilities have been shifted from oil and gas, and he will now keep an eye on the Public Works portfolio. Patterson is a former Minister of Public Infrastructure. The oil and gas sector will now be shadowed by MP Shurwayne Holder, while the Labour Minister will be shadowed by Dineshwar N. Jaiprashad

Norton has also removed Natasha Singh-Lewis from the Education shadow portfolio, which will now be handled by APNU member and General Secretary of the Guyana Teachers Union, Coretta McDonald.

Singh-Lewis will now shadow the Human Services portfolio.

The Culture, Youth and Sport portfolio will now be shadowed by APNU Member Nima Flue-Bess. MP Jermaine Figueria has been removed from shadowing the portfolio. Figueria is the current Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, which is considered the most powerful committee in the National Assembly. He will continue in that role.

However, the Opposition MP is not happy with losing the shadow portfolio to overlook the Youth, Culture and Sport portfolio, and has written to the Executive of the People’s National Congress protesting the move and complaining about not being consulted before the move was announced.

“I was shocked yesterday when I was informed by the Leader, at an MPs meeting that I would no longer hold any portfolio including that of Culture, Youth and Sports, which I shadowed successfully for the past four budgets, and after I have been preparing for the upcoming presentations in a matter of days. There was no consultation done and the forced reasons given in my respectful view, were most nonsensical, and without merit”, he wrote.

The Opposition Leader has not offered any comment on the move to shake up the shadow cabinet ahead of Monday’s national budget presentation and the budget debates that will follow.

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