The new Cabinet?

By G.A.Dwyer Astaphan

Clearly, the process is more difficult this time around.

And here is the way I am reading things.

First, now that the elections are over and the victory has been secured, Dr. Douglas will quickly want to settle certain things.

He might want to clip the wings of Dr. Timothy Harris and Mr. Sam Condor.

He might want to take back the Ministry of Finance from Dr. Timothy Harris, after, and in spite of, Dr. Harris’ commendable efforts during his short stewardship of that Ministry.

And in order to appease Dr. Harris, he might express a preference for Dr. Harris to be Deputy Prime Minister so that a signal of succession might be sent out to the country.

This move might also help to create some distance and disaffection between Dr. Harris and Mr. Sam Condor, who has been DPM since 1995, and who, like Dr. Harris, has been viewed by a few insiders as not being as sufficiently deferent and loyal to the Leader.

It is no secret that in the run up to the elections, there was an effort by a very tiny group of misguided persons in Constituency 3 and elsewhere agitating in an orchestrated but ineffective manner against Mr. Condor, and even suggesting that he be replaced.

And presently, their work continues on the St.Kitts & Nevis Internet Chat Group of Mr. Charles Mitchum where they are saying that it was not Dr. Harris and Mr. Condor who won those seats, but it was Labour, while they make no such reference in relation to the other successful Labour candidates.

Let’s get on with my speculation. With Dr. Harris as DPM, what might Dr. Douglas offer to Mr. Condor, in an attempt to  mollify him?

Would he succeed with the designation ‘Senior Minister’ or some other nice-sounding but absolutely meaningless, even demeaning, term?

Truth be told, the designation ‘DPM” itself has meant little over the past 15 years, and with no change in mindset, neither it (for Dr. Harris) nor “Senior Minister’(for Mr.Condor) is likely to mean anything.

Indeed, during the last term, Dr. Douglas expressed no appetite at all for the ‘Senior Minister’ concept. Has there been a change?

Then, what about the post of Attorney General? Under our Constitution, this can be a public office (civil servant) or a ministerial post.

The last holder, Mr. Dennis Merchant has dual nationality, so he can hold the post, but only as a public officer, not as a Member of Parliament.

Under the public officer option, the AG can be summoned to Cabinet to report and discuss matters, and of course, he or she can attend Parliament as Government’s principal legal advisor, not to stand and speak, but to assist with legislation as do the other lawyers in the AG’s Chambers.

Of course, this reduces the Government’s voting power in Parliament by one vote, and it also reduces the Prime Minister’s support group in the Cabinet by one person (as AG’s in my time have, with respect, been little more than PM’s handymen).

Maybe another person is under consideration.

For example, Mr. Sylvester Anthony, whose name has been bandied about among some persons close to the centre. But I guess that he too holds dual nationality (St. Lucia and St.Kitts & Nevis) and that would put him in the same boat as Mr. Merchant.

Then there is Mr. Patrice Nisbett of the NRP, a Party which, according to credible reports, received substantial assistance from the Labour Party Leader and benefactors in the elections.

Mr. Nisbett will be in Parliament.

But he already is legal adviser to the Nevis Island Administration. Yet, his Party might be willing to release and replace him, if it means getting the NRP into the Federal Cabinet.

Mr. Nisbett in the Federal Cabinet and on the Government benches would increase the number by 1, and perhaps serve to weaken individuals who are seen as problematic.

While you ponder this, ponder also how it might be  if the NRP had won 2 seats instead of 1.

Beyond Mr. Nisbett, there is Ms. Marcella Liburd who can also serve as AG, but my sense is that she is being earmarked for Education and other portfolios, which, inter alia, again raises the question as to what is to become of Mr. Condor.

There is also Mr. Jason Hamilton, who is seen as a possible successor to Mr. Condor as Labour’s candidate in West Basseterre, although I would be surprised if this choice would excite the Leader.

There is also Mrs. Patricia Dublin-Lewis, but she is part of a successful law firm in the City and she is busy so she may not be amenable to the idea.

Accordingly, I can understand the challenges with regard to the AG post.

Then there is the matter of the senators.

Dr. Douglas will want to show his appreciation, and to articulate his obligation, to Mr. Nigel Carty and Mr. Richard Skerritt by appointing them, not only as ministers, but as full-fledged ministers. And he will be driven more by his desire to have them in the Cabinet with him than by  the need to start grooming persons who stand a good chance of candidacy in the next general elections which Labour will have to contest with at least three new candidates.

He might even argue  that it would cost the Government less money to engage these two gentlemen as ministers than as consultants at a pay of $20,000 plus monthly, in order to rationalize his desire to have them in his Cabinet.

And he will want them as full-fledged ministers also to neutralize the argument that junior ministers ought not to attend Cabinet meetings as a matter of course, or right.

Finally, in terms of the Cabinet Secretary, he will obviously want to retain his ever-faithful, Mr. Joseph Edmeade.

In a nutshell, same old, same old.

But who knows? Maybe I am totally off course.

We shall soon find out.