Briceno and Courtenay out of Cabinet
In terms of sheer numbers it was by no means the biggest Cabinet reshuffle ever engineered by Prime Minister Said Musa … but when it comes to impact, the political projectile launched this afternoon from Belmopan resembled a roadside bomb in Baghdad: powerful, unexpected, and lethal.
But in Belizean politics–unlike Iraq–death is often in the eye of the beholder.
First the basics: John Briceno is out, both as Minister of Natural Resources and Deputy Prime Minister. Apparently, the Prime Minister, determined to bring Briceno down a peg for opposing the U.H.S. bailout, offered him the ministries of National Development, then Defence, coincidentally the two portfolios previously held by Mark Espat and Cordel Hyde. Briceno, with over seven years as Minister of Natural Resources, saw the reassignment as an insult, designed to also send a message to his two colleagues who were relieved of their ministries last month. When John said no, the P.M. proceeded to deliver the final blow by filling the Natural Resources post with veteran politician Florencio Marin and giving the Deputy’s job to northern rival Vildo Marin.
The second I.E.D. exploded at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs where Minister and Senator Eamon Courtenay, long unhappy with the direction of the administration, followed Briceno’s line and informed the P.M. of his unwillingness to serve. His replacement is Belize’s ambassador to Washington and the O.A.S., Lisa Shoman, who will also take Courtenay’s place as a Senator. Ironically, at the time of the announcement Courtenay was leading our delegation at the O.A.S. General Assembly in Panama. Sitting beside him was his subordinate, the soon to be Minister Shoman.
In lesser changes, Rodwell Ferguson joins the Cabinet as Minister of Defence, Youth, and Sports, while Prime Minister Musa will take over Espat’s old portfolio of National Development. Valdemar Castillo will fill Florencio Marin’s old post as executive chairman of the Corozal Free Zone.
For the record, as of Tuesday, June fifth, here is what the Cabinet will look like.
Right Honourable Said Musa: Minister of Finance, National Development, and the Public Service.
Honourable Vildo Marin: Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries.
Honourable Francis Fonseca: Attorney General, Minister of Labour, Education, and Culture.
Honourable Godfrey Smith: Minister of Tourism and National Emergency Management.
Honourable Ralph Fonseca: Minister of Home Affairs, Public Utilities, and Housing.
Honourable Jose Coye: Minister of Health, Transport, Communications, and Local Government.
Honourable Sylvia Flores: Minister of Human Development.
Honourable Michael Espat: Minister of Works.
Honourable Rodwell Ferguson: Minister of Defence, Youth, and Sports.
Honourable Florencio Marin: Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment.
Honourable Lisa Shoman: Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade.
And what is the meaning of the changes? In practical terms, with less than nine months until elections, it’s a caretaker Cabinet. Not much besides election season projects were going to happen anyway and if the past is any guide, there are at least two or three good scandals left for the Cabinet to defend.
With regard to politics, it means that the P.U.P. will enter the election irreparably divided. With a national convention slated for July first, it’s difficult to believe that Briceno will seek to retain the post of deputy party leader, or that he, Espat and Hyde will try to kick up dust. What they will do, however, is carve out their own platform more in tune with public opinion, work hard to win their respective seats, and prepare to deal with whatever the post election landscape may bring.
As for Said Musa, one thing that could be said in his favour is that he finally demonstrated the decisive leadership that his hard line colleagues wished he had exercised back in August of 2004 when the rift in Cabinet first publicly surfaced. The same, of course, could be said for the four men who now find themselves on the outside looking in.
