A mere five hours after replacing Keith Rowley as head of government on Monday, new Prime Minister Stuart Young adjusted Rowley’s cabinet, making key changes at finance, security, and the attorney general chambers, among other places, in moves that surprised some political monitors.
The transfer of Colm Imbert, the long-serving finance minister who has been persistently pilloried by the opposition and political analysts for years for presiding over a struggling economy that has shown signs of decline in the wake of declines in the lifeline oil and gas sector, was widely seen as the most important. Imbert will now operate from the public utilities ministry.
Imbert has been replaced by former Trinidadian High Commissioner to Canada Vishnu Dhanpaul, who served several previous ministers as the permanent secretary. He has pledged to avoid imposing new taxes and other hardships on the federation with Tobago. “You have to make tough decisions as a minister of finance. You would like to not make tough decisions. What I would tell you is that I don’t want to make a promise to the country, but to the people of Trinidad and Tobago, there will be no hardships. Not under my watch. That is not going to happen,” he told reporters.
Earlier in the day, Young dropped a bombshell by naming attorney Camille Robinson-Regis as the new AG, replacing Reginald Armour, who will soon take up an appointment as a judge in the Eastern Caribbean.
Until Monday, she had hardly been associated with the legal profession. She had been the housing minister in Keith Rowley’s cabinet, but her appointment caught many off guard, including Opposition Leader Kamla Persad Bissessar. “Does her appointment inspire confidence in anyone? as Persad Bissessar. “She does not have a practice certificate. She is not registered with the law association. Is it true? I can’t remember a single case she had fought in the parliament. An AG has a job to present and defend bills,” she said.
Other ministerial tweaks included the move of beleaguered Security Minister Fitz Hinds to the prime minister’s office, while Adrian Leonce will head to housing, replacing the new AG Robinson-Regis. Digital Transformation Minister Hassel Bacchus will add the junior finance ministry to his portfolio, and Marvin Gonzales will replace Hinds at security.
Digital Transformation Minister Hassel Bacchus also got the additional responsibility of minister in the Ministry of Finance.
And speaking after the swearing-in ceremony, PM Young urged the adjusted and transferred not “to see it in that way (demotion) whatsoever. You’re not seeing what you saw in previous governments. You’re not seeing shifts every Monday morning, et cetera. It was an opportunity for us to take our strategic decisions, for us to look, for me to look at it strategically, knowing what I want to do in the future, and realign certainly,” he said.
