If Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has to fire anybody it is Attorney General Anand Ramlogan, says political analyst Dr Winford James. “He has been a very poor AG and has made tonnes of mistakes,” James said in a telephone interview with the Sunday Guardian. “The PM has made quite a lot of blunders herself,” he added.
Asked who else should be removed, James said, with the exception of the AG, he had no basis to call for anyone else to be fired. He said a more robust evaluation criteria of ministers, the results of which should be made available to the public, was needed for anyone to make an informed decision about who should be fired and who should stay. “In the absence of such knowledge, any suggestion to fire anyone will be ill-informed.”
“I don’t know that the Prime Minister could claim that others are not performing either,” he added. If the Prime Minster has the information, he said, she should make it public. “How she goes about hiring and firing are public matters.” “In this country, we get engaged in all types of speculation that has no basis. We can’t rate people on a basis of ignorance,” James added.
He said better, more transparent collaboration between the prime minister and her ministers would prevent “bombshells” from being dropped on ministers and on the public. Using National Security Minister Emmanuel George as an example, James said it was not good leadership to have members of the Cabinet “wondering” if they would be fired. “Ministers shouldn’t be quivering and quaking. That’s not the way you treat big people. The days for that are over and should never be resurrected,” he said.
Speaking about his future with reporters on Wednesday, George reportedly said: “I don’t expect anything and I expect everything. You understand.” Asked if he was expecting any changes, George reportedly said: “The Prime Minister has spoken and I leave it at that.” James said T&T is beyond the days when one person’s decision would suffice and it was expected that the prime minister would consult with other members of the Cabinet. However, consultation should not be in secret, he added.
Saying that Cabinet meetings may not be sufficient to address the performance of all ministers, James added: “I would have an inner Cabinet, probably elected by members of Cabinet and known to the public—so it would be no cabal—which would take an approach of consultation and would constantly evaluate ministers.” In a telephone interview with the Sunday Guardian, political analyst Maukesh Basdeo said public sector reform was needed to effectively measure a minister’s performance.
Saying that ministers and ministries must give value for money, Basdeo said: “The best way to measure performance is to look at the output of a ministry based on their budget allocation.” “If a ministry was allocated one billion, we need to know what came out of it. This way we would be able to rate the efficiency of the minister, ministry and public service.”
Currently, he said, this level of investigation was not being done in the public service, and public-sector reform was needed to correct this. “This must be put in place to ensure full accountability across the board.” Basdeo said a reshuffle of the Cabinet will be a good move by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. “It would signal that the Chaguanas West by election has made some impact and the Government is intent on addressing the issues which led to the defeat,” he said.
Based on the recent spike in the murder rate, he added, the Ministry of National Security would be one to look at. More importantly, the Government needed to start delivering on the promises made in 2010, Basdeo said. Commenting on speculations that George was earmarked to be sacked, political analyst Dr Winford James said: “Is it only the responsibility of the Minister of National Security to bring crime down? Clearly not.”
He said the Cabinet and the National Security Council were also responsible for drafting policies and making decisions to deal with crime, so they too should bear the responsibility.
PP Cabinet shake-ups
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has reshuffled Cabinet twice so far in the last three years of the People’s Partnership Government.
• The first shake-up was in June, 2011, when four ministers—Health Minister Therese Baptiste-Cornelis, Public Administration Minister Rudrawatee Nan Ramgoolam, Minister in the Ministry of National Security Subhas Panday, and Minister in the Ministry of Finance Patrick Watson—were sacked. Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan was replaced by Kevin Ramnarine as Energy Minister and shifted to Public Administration. Jack Warner, then Minister of Works and Transport, was stripped part of his portfolio with the creation of the Ministry of Transport which Devant Maharaj, chairman of the Public Transport Service Corporation at the time, was selected to head.
• In June 2012, about a year later, the Cabinet was changed again with the dismissal of National Security Minister John Sandy and Minister of Youth, Child Development and Gender Affairs Verna St Rose Greaves, who were replaced by Jack Warner and Marlene Coudray, respectively.
In the reshuffle which saw the formation of several new ministries, Ganga Singh, chief executive officer of the Water and Sewage Authority at the time, was made Minister of Environment and Water Resources. Winston Dookeran was replaced by Larry Howai as Finance Minister and moved to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Dr Suruj Rambachan was made Local Government Minister, replacing Chandresh Sharma who was shifted to the Ministry of Transport.
At the time, Persad-Bissessar reportedly said the changes should not be seen as an indictment on anyone’s performance since each member of the Cabinet worked tirelessly. She didn’t rule out a further reshuffle, saying ministers will always be under review, reports stated.