Mark and Cordel headed back into Cabinet

Although the bulk of today’s chat focussed on the registry scandal, the P.M. did manage to admit that negotiations are well on their way toward the readmission of renegade representatives Mark Espat and Cordel Hyde into Cabinet. According to Musa, there are no hard feelings.

Prime Minister Said Musa
?I have been long enough in politics to know that statements are made by colleagues; certainly the backbenchers have a right to be critical of their government. The main thing is I did not sense at anytime that there was anything personal involved here. I did not attribute any of their criticisms to a personal attack on me or to any colleague in the Cabinet or in the National Assembly. We had policy differences and no doubt we will continue to have. We don?t expect, even the Cabinet for that matter to be uniform in our thinking about issues. We have to have policy differences from time to time. But when they are in Cabinet they understand that there has to be collective responsibility and whatever disagreements there may be have to be settled here in the Cabinet. As a backbencher, they had that liberty, that license if you like, to speak their minds in the National Assembly. As a politician, I have learnt to live with that.

The re-entry of Espat and Hyde into Cabinet will of course mean yet another Cabinet shuffle. The deal is expected to be consummated by Friday.