By Jomo Paul
[www.inewsguyana.com] – The APNU+AFC coalition is set to finalize the names of persons that will make up its Cabinet and parliamentarians for Guyana’s 11 parliament sometime on Monday, May 18.
The six-party coalition received a 207,200 victory from Guyana’s May 11 General and Regional elections, unseating the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) administration which has been in power since 1992.
During an interview with iNews, APNU +AFC, Co-Chair, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine said that the coalition is set to have a meeting during the course of Monday where it will name its cabinet.
He said that after the meeting, the coalition should be able to say who will be part of its cabinet and in what capacity.
Under the historic Cummingsburg Accord, which aligned the Alliance for Change (AFC) to A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), the AFC will head four key Ministries, which includes Agriculture, Tourism, Home Affairs and Public Works.
AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan has been touted as the Home Affairs Minister while, Cathy Hughes is expected to take up the tourism mantle having been active player in the sector for years.
Meanwhile, Former finance
Minister Carl Greenidge is reportedly being pegged for the Foreign Affairs Minister post while former Budget Director Winston Jordan is being floated as finance Minister.
Dr Roopnaraine himself has been named as a possible Vice President while Joseph Harmon is expected to be confirmed in the capacity which he now acts – Head of the Presidential Secretariat.
Let us wait to have the complete report of Jagdeo’s stint as finance minister and Nandalal’s report card as the same under Jagdoe’s and Romotar’s administration. With what we have seen from the outside looking in I’m sure the grade is less than satisfactory.
That will show that Jagdeo is not morally qualified to judge, recommend or otherwise comment on the topic.
I am hopeful for the new finance minister to do right by the hard working tax payers.
Mr. Greenidge defended himself on more than one occasion. Mr. Jagdeo did not defend himself concerning those contracts that were not first debated/ aired in our Parliament. Do you recall Fip Motilall, Amaila, Surendra Engineering, Airport Expansion , Fibre Optic, NIS/ Berbice Bridge, Marriott? This is just to jog your memory a bit. Mr. Greenidge will always defend his record.
Some time back the PNC always “touted” Carl Greenidge as the architect of the late Hoyte’s so called Economic Recovery Programme (ERP). He was the opposition’s point man for finance and has many more years of experience in finance when compared to his short stint with the CTA in Europe. If he was that good they should’ve continued with him in this key Ministry. Jagdeo had a close up look at this man’s financial mismanagement and made it public at several of his Press meetings. It is no surprise the coalition listened to Jagdeo.
This likely has more to do with his experience as a diplomat in Belgium and the need for someone with that knowledge plus that of the financial sector than anything to do with Jagdeo’s criticisms.
Even though Carl Greenidge was once a Minister of Finance in a previous administration and more recently a shadow Minister of Finance, apparently he is now being overlooked for this position. The Finance Minister is central to a government and barring constitutional ramifications the holder of this office is almost next to the President / Prime Minister in importance. Former President Bharat Jagdeo exposed the mismanagement by Greenidge more than other Minister in past PNC regimes. The coalition paid heed to Jagdeo’s advice and kept Carl Greenidge away from the Ministry of Finance. Not a bad start.