Opposition Leader Says Cabinet Reshuffle Signals “Trouble” Inside Briceño Administration

Leader of the Opposition Tracy Taegar-Panton says the recent Cabinet reshuffle announced by Prime Minister John Briceño suggests instability inside the administration, particularly as pressure builds over the Joseph Budna case. “The Budna Situation will not go away,” Panton stated.

“The honourable Kareem Musa is the fall guy in this situation, but that is not enough,” she added. “We need to know who the perpetrators are. We need to know who are behind the perpetrators, and we need to hold all persons who are involved, in this situation to account.”

This week, PM Briceño reassigned five senior ministers in one of the largest reshuffles since taking office in 2020.

Kareem Musa was removed from Home Affairs after five years in the post. Henry Charles Usher has taken over that ministry at a time when the government is facing criticism for rising gang tensions and unanswered questions surrounding the Budna case.

Briceño defended his decision regarding Musa. Today he told News 5, “I think Kareem has done a good job over the past five years. But, you know that ministry wears you down and now is the time to be able to celebrate our fiftieth anniversary would be a good time to make some changes” 

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education has also seen another shift with Francis Fonseca returning to the portfolio, just eight months after Oscar Requena, a veteran educator, was appointed to the post.

Requena was reassigned to Rural Transformation, the same ministry he held in the last term.

Despite acknowledging that Requena had been supportive to constituency requests, Panton said the “undercurrents are strong” and that the Prime Minister likely made the decision because these “issues are bubbling.”