Opposition Leader defends Shadow Cabinet shake-up

The Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton, today defended his decision to shake-up the Opposition’s Shadow Cabinet in the National Assembly.

Opposition MP Jermaine Figueira has protested the move, which will see him no longer shadowing the Culture, Youth and Sport Ministry.

In a lengthy missive to the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the People’s National Congress/Reform, Figueira who remains as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, questioned whether the decision to take the portfolio from him was intended to penalize him for being outspoken, and over a decision to shake the hands of the President, when the Opposition Leader opted not to.

But at a press conference today, Mr. Norton told reporters that the reassignment of the Shadow Ministers was long in the making. He steered clear of stating whether he consulted with all of the Opposition MPs on the matter, before arriving at his decision.

He emphasized, however, that the changes were based on the performance of the MPs in advancing issues within the various Ministries, and in some cases, their knowledge of the ministries.

Norton said in the case of Culture, Youth and Sport, an active sport-oriented MP was needed.

“You have Youth, Sport and Culture, where you have a lot of grounds unfinished across this country, a lot of work should be done in Youth, Sport and Culture, needs to be done. And I thought, in the circumstance, we need an activist, oriented person there, who is involved in sport and that naturally led to Nima Flue-Bess. And it is on that basis, the decision was taken to put Nima Flue-Bess in the area of Youth, Sport and Culture,” the Opposition Leader explained.

Norton said as the Regional MP for Region 10, nothing stops Figueira from addressing issues relating to Youth, Sport and Culture.

On the issue of the handshake, Norton dismissed the suggestion that the issue influenced his decision. He said several Opposition MPs have shaken hands with the President and he never instructed anyone not to.

“There was never a hand shaking policy. I said at the time, when I didn’t shake the president’s hand, I wasn’t going to shake the hands of the president, and I held to that. I have never instructed or say to any member of Parliament, they should not shake the President’s hands,” Norton maintained.

Apart from MP Figueira, 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, while MP Geeta Chandan-Edmond, who previously shadowed the Home Affairs Ministry portfolio, will now overlook Governance. The Chief Whip Christopher Jones will be shadowing the Parliamentary Affairs portfolio.

Additionally, 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 said the changes are intended to make the Opposition MPs more effective and efficient in the execution of their mandate.

“As I sit in the Parliament, issues came up on Home Affairs, the shadow minister is Geeta Chandan but the person who has all the information on the plans that occurred in the ministry is Khemraj Ramjattan. Now, what I did is to make Khemraj the shadow minister, move him from agriculture, and even though he would be the shadow minister, and Geeta Chandan will not be Governance and Parliamentary Affairs, in budget assignments, she will also be speaking on home affairs but it gives us the opportunity to bring institutional knowledge,” Norton explained.

He said such was also the case with MP Patterson.

“Patterson served as Infrastructure Minister, which is now Public Works. If you follow in the press, you will see a lot of the key responses would come from Patterson. And so, what I said and I discussed it with Patterson, you have the knowledge for infrastructure, I will move you to infrastructure but you will also continue to speak on oil and gas, though you are shadowing Minister for Public Works,” he explained.

Rebuffing claims that he was unhappy with MP Pattersons’ position on a number of oil and gas related issues including ‘ringfencing,’ Norton told reporters that he was satisfied with MP Patterson’s handling of the Oil and Gas Sector.

However, he said while there was major emphasis on the Oil and Gas Sector, other sectors that fall within the Natural Resources such as Mining and Forestry have not gained significant attention. As such, it was important to assign a shadow minister.