Two Cabinet Reshuffles in a Week Raise Questions About Stability

Two Cabinet shake-ups in just one week, what’s driving all these changes inside the Briceño administration? Earlier today, senior ministers gathered in Belmopan to map out the new lineup and the way forward. It comes only days after the People’s United Party marked five years in office, but instead of celebration, the spotlight is on sudden resignations, portfolio swaps, and questions about stability. So, what do these moves really mean for governance and for you, the voter? Here’s News Five’s Isani Cayetano with our lead story.

 

Isani Cayetano, Reporting

There’s a new iteration of Cabinet, the second reshuffling of ministerial portfolios in one week. These changes come amid recent developments within the Briceno administration. Earlier today, senior government ministers filed into the Sir Edney Cain Building in Belmopan where they met to discuss these adjustments, as well as the way forward.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“Every prime minister will tell you that from time to time you would sit back and look at how things are working and where you believe you can have some form of improvement. There’s always room for improvement from all of us, myself included. But we’ve only had one reshuffle, I don’t know, you’re talking about several. Yesterday, today, actually, we sent the papers over to the Governor General for the reshuffle to be enacted. So I don’t know how many reshuffles you’re talking about.”

 

It’s been seven days since the People’s United Party commemorated its fifth year in office and the past week has been nothing short of a whirlwind. During that time, Fort George Area Representative Henry Charles Usher declined his reassignment to the Ministry of Home Affairs and Enterprise.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“When I spoke with Minister Usher, I might as well deal with it now, when I asked him to do Home Affairs; afterwards, we did discuss and he did mention that he thinks he’d be better suited to remain where he is at the Public Service because they’ve been taking on some very serious initiatives in restructuring the entire Public Service which is not an easy task. I’m trying to restructure the different functions of the different series of payments, probably from about twenty-four or twenty-five… thirty pay scales and we want to bring them down to about five. So, it is a lot of work that he’s been doing. We’ve been looking at digitizing the entire workforce of the Public Service. So, there’s some very, very serious initiatives and he felt that he would be better placed there. Him being a senior minister and the chairman of the party, then I would agree.”

 

The real shocker, though, is the sudden resignation of Orange Walk South Area Representative Jose Abelardo Mai. He’s held the agriculture portfolio since the PUP came to power in November 2020 and continues to be a major political force in the north. Taking over that role is Rodwell Ferguson. You’ll remember that after the March General Elections, Ferguson was appointed Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister. Now, he’s taking over responsibility for agriculture.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“Minister Ferguson has been, one: he’s a deputy leader of the party, and he’s experienced. He has been an area representative since 2003, and so, yes, he was not reelected in 2008, but since then he has consistently been elected by huge margins in his division. So, it speaks volumes of [him] as an area representative, as a person that loves his people and works with them and bringing him back into the Cabinet again, leaning on his experience that he has as an area representative and minister, but also to make the point, he lives in a rural area, so he can better appreciate the challenges of people in agriculture.”

 

Stepping into the role of Minister of Home Affairs is Belmopan Area Representative Oscar Mira, who has given up his previous post as Minister of National Defense and Border Security. Coupled with Home Affairs is Enterprise.

 

Shane Williams

“PM, what was the thought behind pairing Home Affairs with Enterprise?”

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“That’s the very reason why, because we felt that because of the Free Zone being right there at the border, a lot of commercial activity being taking place between both countries and the concerns that they could be wanting the infiltration of the cartels wanting to get into Belize and using the Free Zone as a foothold. We felt that maybe it is better to put Enterprise directly with the police, so that then we can be more active in that area to ensure that we can keep that place free from these people.”

 

Other notable changes include Florencio Marin Jr. now taking up the role of Minister of National Defense & Border Security. Meanwhile, Oscar Requena has returned to his initial post as Minister of Rural Transformation, Community Development, and Local Government. Isani Cayetano for News Five.