PRESS STATEMENT
MARCH 24, 2022
The Dance of the Cabinet Reshuffle
Do we really need 30 Ministers?
Is this the best way to manage our affairs with a population the size of a small city in China?
Why continue to ape the British model?
The dance of the Cabinet reshuffle recently choreographed by our government has been properly described as of little significance by Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) leader David Abdullah.
And to even comment further seems superfluous.
But it does give us an occasion to ask: Do we really need 30 Ministers with their high salaries, posh benefits, lack of technical expertise (for the most part), and their pomposity, to govern our population of 1.3 million people, the size of a small city in China? Is there a less costly and more effective way to govern our affairs? Do we have to continue aping the British model?
The news cycle for this event lasted about a day. But if only a handful of people start to explore these questions, perhaps that’s a beginning.
And as we look at the dance, we need to ponder: How come today someone seems to have expertise in legal affairs, and the next day he is this master of rural development? How come one’s technical wisdom today is in “local government”, and the next day it becomes Agriculture? The arbitrariness of the switches speaks to their inanity.
There has to be a better way to govern our affairs. The dance smacks of onanism... And it attempts to fool us into thinking this will contribute to our progress. And some of us actually accept this dance as good for our governance.
So let’s ask: Do we really need 30 members of parliament serving as Ministers in areas they have little competence?
Here is just one alternative: Let’s have the Prime Minister with 5 Chief Secretaries, each with proven managerial skills, serving in the Senate, and each managing the work of 5 Chief Technical Officers with expertise in specific sectors (e.g. Education, Health, the Environment, etc.).
And what will our elected MPs do? They will do what they were voted in for: to represent their communities, pass legislation which improves our society, and monitor the implementation of development plans to benefit their electoral districts.
Dr. Everold Hosein, Political Leader, Green Party of Trinidad and Tobago
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MARCH 24, 2022
The Dance of the Cabinet Reshuffle
Do we really need 30 Ministers?
Is this the best way to manage our affairs with a population the size of a small city in China?
Why continue to ape the British model?
The dance of the Cabinet reshuffle recently choreographed by our government has been properly described as of little significance by Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) leader David Abdullah.
And to even comment further seems superfluous.
But it does give us an occasion to ask: Do we really need 30 Ministers with their high salaries, posh benefits, lack of technical expertise (for the most part), and their pomposity, to govern our population of 1.3 million people, the size of a small city in China? Is there a less costly and more effective way to govern our affairs? Do we have to continue aping the British model?
The news cycle for this event lasted about a day. But if only a handful of people start to explore these questions, perhaps that’s a beginning.
And as we look at the dance, we need to ponder: How come today someone seems to have expertise in legal affairs, and the next day he is this master of rural development? How come one’s technical wisdom today is in “local government”, and the next day it becomes Agriculture? The arbitrariness of the switches speaks to their inanity.
There has to be a better way to govern our affairs. The dance smacks of onanism... And it attempts to fool us into thinking this will contribute to our progress. And some of us actually accept this dance as good for our governance.
So let’s ask: Do we really need 30 members of parliament serving as Ministers in areas they have little competence?
Here is just one alternative: Let’s have the Prime Minister with 5 Chief Secretaries, each with proven managerial skills, serving in the Senate, and each managing the work of 5 Chief Technical Officers with expertise in specific sectors (e.g. Education, Health, the Environment, etc.).
And what will our elected MPs do? They will do what they were voted in for: to represent their communities, pass legislation which improves our society, and monitor the implementation of development plans to benefit their electoral districts.
Dr. Everold Hosein, Political Leader, Green Party of Trinidad and Tobago
###
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