Cabinet Secretary Dismisses Claims of Any Division

From the outside, the signs appear hard to ignore: contentious political conventions, pointed public remarks and growing speculation about cracks inside Cabinet. But the man who helps set the agenda for every Cabinet meeting says the public may be reading the situation wrong. Cabinet Secretary Stuart Leslie acknowledges that ministers do not always agree, but insists those differences do not prevent them from working together. According to Leslie, Cabinet remains united behind Prime Minister John Briceño and focused on advancing the government’s agenda.

 

Stuart Leslie, Cabinet Secretary

“With respect to your question about difficulties, remember that the every – all of us serve at the pleasure of the Prime Minister. It’s his cabinet and his ministers advise and administer their portfolios. And so, it would, I for my part in carrying out the instructions of the Prime Minister, I found no reason for any acrimony or – this is a group of people that work together. I think ministers have said about how everybody doesn’t have to agree all the time, but they reach consensus, and they find common ground. I think the cordiality inside of the cabinet room, I’m privileged to sit in there as the, as the recorder of the decisions, is a lot better than it may seem when you hear people talking about it in the public. But that is not it at all. These people, these men and women in the cabinet room get along and they work well together. They don’t agree on everything but they work well together in providing the Prime Minister with the kind of support and advice that he needs.”

 

When asked about potential hard feelings from his Cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday, prime Minister Briceño said, “Absolutely not, we had a really good meeting.”

 

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