Golding's choice - JLP insiders, analysts ponder .....

[Lazie]

Golding's choice - JLP insiders, analysts ponder potential Cabinet cuts


Prime Minister Bruce Golding's announcement yes-terday that he will be cutting his 16-member Cabinet has sparked discussions in political circles, with strong arguments about who should go and who should stay.
Golding has not given any indication of the number of ministers to be left when he reduces the Cabinet, or the timeline for the long-suggested cut, but analysts expect at least two and maybe as many as four ministers could be out of jobs.
This would be in keeping with calls from the Opposition People's National Party (PNP) that the Cabinet should be cut.
The PNP has long argued that some port-folios could be combined, reducing the size of the Cabinet and saving the country millions of dollars.
However, it would not be just a question of economics for Golding. He will also have to consider the political implications when he decides who will go home and who will stay.
Yesterday, Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) insiders refused to provide an official comment on the pending changes, arguing that it was the right of the prime minister to name his Cabinet and make any adjustments that he sees fit.
However, when off the record, the JLP insiders listed ministers they believed were safe and those on shaky ground.
SAFE

Audley Shaw - Finance - Would send a wrong signal to the market if he is changed now

Andrew Holness - Education - Seen as one of the shining stars in the Cabinet
Dwight Nelson - National Security

- Can't have four security ministers in three years.


Ed Bartlett - Tourism, Keeping the industry afloat when others around are floundering
Ken Baugh - Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade: Deputy PM, JLP chairman and key Golding ally
Rudyard Spencer - Health: Has settled in his new role and won the respect of health professionals
Christopher Tufton - Agriculture and Fisheries: Another of the young, shining stars
Karl Samuda - Industry, Investment and Commerce: Party general secretary and experienced head in the Cabinet

THE OTHERS

Mike Henry - Transport and Works - One of the experienced heads in the Cabinet and the party's leader in central Jamaica.

Dr Horace Chang - Water and Housing - A quiet worker who rules western Jamaica.

James Robertson - Mining and Energy - Another of the young, hard workers
Dorothy Lightbourne - Justice & Attorney General

- The architect of proposed legislative changes

Pearnel Charles - Labour and Social Security: His experienced head will be needed at Labour, especially now
Olivia Grange - Youth, Sports and Culture: This portfolio can be easily absorbed in other ministries, but 'Babsy' is a political heavyweight Daryl Vaz - Minister without portfolio in the OPM: Seen as a hard worker and recently promoted but should be around at the end.

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/glean...ead/lead1.html

[Lazie]

Is the Cabinet too large? - Political analysts debate slashing of 16-member executive


Political analysts are at odds over whether Prime Minister Bruce Golding's 16-member Cabinet should be reduced and how it might be done.
Former parliamentarian, Claude Clarke, strongly suggested that Golding should fashion a new Cabinet instead of tinkering with the existing one, while businessman Kevin O'Brien Chang and attorney-at-law Patrick Bailey are firmly of the view that the size of the Cabinet is just right.
Clarke, a former minister in the People's National Party administration of the 1990s, is in total agreement with a smaller Cabinet of no more than 12, but would not be drawn into saying which of the current ministers should be axed.
"It is a flawed approach to cut ministries," he declared. "I would start with what is required of the Government in the modern context."

Cabinet unworkable
Clarke characterised the existing Cabinet as demonstrably inefficient, ineffective, inappropriate and unworkable. "I can't tell you what areas to cut as all the functions of governance have to be carried out."
However, he was emphatic in stating that the current Cabinet is much too large for a country and economy of Jamaica's size.
Clarke argued that the responsibilities must first be fashioned to fit into a new structure. "What you then do is assign comparative responsibilities in a coordinated way, then tie in the necessary responsibilities to that structure."

A political problem
He was not confident that Golding was inclined to carve a new look Cabinet, given the numerical challenges in Parliament. "The (size of the) Cabinet should be no more than 12; it's easily done, but it presents him (Golding) with a political problem," he said.
According to Clarke, the current Cabinet helps Golding maintain parliamentary order on his side by ensuring that he has the majority of members in the executive. "He has a serious political problem in reducing the executive to appropriate size as he has to keep his backbench almost to zero."
O'Brien Chang, on the other hand, characterised the call for a slimmer executive as a distraction.
"It is a red herring, given the enormity of the problems facing Jamaica," he said.
He also accused the Opposition of playing to the gallery and noted that "Barbados has an even bigger Cabinet".
Just enough
O'Brien Chang enjoyed support from Patrick Bailey, who said "The present ministries are, in my opinion, just enough to meet the demands of modern-day Government."
Bailey suggested there was a danger in cutting the ministries as it could result in the merging of various portfolio subjects into other ministries, creating super ministries which can be unwieldy and cumbersome.
"In any event, the savings from these mergers are likely to be marginal because you will find more and more persons being called directors general rather than permanent secretaries," he argued.
Slash parish councils
He suggested that, in such a scenario, one ministry could have more than one director general at salaries comparable to that of the permanent secretary.
Joan Williams, political analyst, suggested that the parish councils should be an area of focus for slashing expenses.
"There is too much overlapping ... I would cut the parish councils; most of them are not functioning properly," she said.
She said a study was needed on the role of the parish councils, particularly in light of the fuel tax, a portion of which is to go to the Road Maintenance Fund.
"Why is there need for parish council and roads?" she asked.
gary.spaulding@gleanerjm.com



'There is too much overlapping ... I would cut the parish councils; most of them are not functioning properly. Why is there need for parish council and roads?' - Joan Williams