ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC – As tension continues to mount between Prime Minister Tillman Thomas and three dissenting Cabinet ministers, a Barbadian political strategist arrived here Sunday to mediate talks between the two sides.
Hartley Henry, former advisor to the late Barbados Prime Minister David Thompson held separate meetings with the disgruntled individuals and sources close to the government told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that a special meeting of elected Members of Parliament was also planned for later today.
The current impasse followed news that a cabinet reshuffle was in the making.
Thomas has since reshuffled the Cabinet, however, three of the affected ministers – Peter David, Glynnis Roberts and Michael Church – stayed away from a swearing-in ceremony on Friday.
Meantime, Grenadians continue to express concern over the developments.
Taxi driver Lester De Souze said the current scenario is sending the wrong message to the public.
“They are sending a message that there’s too much confusion among them. They have to settle down. They have to do better than that,” De Souze said.
Some Grenadians have also equated this open rift within the government to a similar rift within the revolutionary government of 1979 to 1983, adding that the only difference this time is the absence of guns and the presence of the constitution to guide their actions.
Many are questioning the thinking of Prime Minister Thomas who so far has only given guarded reasons for what he admits is the demotion of Environment and Foreign Trade Minister Michael Church to Junior Minister in the Ministry of Works.
He said that move was because Church attended a regional trade meeting in Africa alongside Dr. Patrick Antoine who was the former trade advisor to former prime minister Dr. Keith Mitchell, without the prior knowledge of the cabinet.
Outside of that admission, Prime Minister Thomas has maintained that reshuffling the cabinet of a government is a natural part of governance, in an effort to effectively and efficiently manage the state.
And as fears over the possible collapse of the two and half year old NDC government weighs heavily on the minds of many, the apparent silence of the opposition New National Party (NNP) is almost deafening.
Mitchell was out of state when the debacle started but this has never been an issue on previous occasions when the NNP leader had to voice concerns about actions of the government.
One opposition MP, Claris Modest Curwen, speaking in an exclusive interview with CMC on the issue said she cannot see the strategy of the Prime Minister in this reshuffle and is speculating that his move could be an act of desperation.
“The NDC government is in some trouble. It could be an act of desperation because we well know that the government is very unpopular at this time,” Modeste-Curwen said.
“Usually when government reshuffles, it is to get persons to experience, to have a feel for what another ministry is doing so when you sit in Cabinet you can make decisions and you can give support to other ministries or oppose certain activities that are taking place, based on hands-on knowledge.”
“But if you move people back and forth in the same ministries, it is not a good strategy…it is an attempt to take people’s attention away from the woes that are happening,” she added.
Despite the apparent opposition to the move by Prime Minister Thomas to reshuffle the cabinet, there are some who are willing to give the PM the benefit of the doubt and go along with his decision.
Some callers to a mid-morning radio programme were suggesting that the Ministers should accept the position given to them and just work in the interest of the country.
One woman said, “I believe uncle Tilly knows what he is doing and he should be given a chance to rule.”
Many Grenadians are hoping that Sunday’s meetings could see the end of this stalemate, the swearing in of ministers to ministries and the return of normalcy to government.