With Dennis Lowe?officially back on the job, political pundits believe the clock is ticking down on Prime Minister Freundel Stuart’s pledge to make room for Denis Kellman in his Cabinet.
However, political scientist Dr George Belle is warning Barbadians not to expect any major reshuffle at this time.
“The Prime Minister has made a clear statement that he will retain both of them [Lowe and Kellman] and I expect he will,” Belle said.
Political scientist Peter Wickham also believes that Stuart will honour his recent pledge to make room for Kellman, who was acting as Minister of Environment, Water Resources Management and Drainage for the past four months while Lowe was ill.
“He needs to obviously make changes in relation to one or two of them [ministers], but the problem is that in this situation where all the portfolios are assigned, he needs to take away something from someone to give to [Kellman],” said Wickham.
Wickham also said he was baffled over the length of time it has taken the Prime Minister to make the announcement.
Last month, in a nationally televised interview, Stuart said Lowe was a highly valued member of Cabinet and he was looking forward to his return. The Prime Minister added that Kellman, the Member of Parliament for St Lucy since 1994, had been there through “thick and thin” and he would not be returning to the back bench.
Belle, the dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of the West Indies, felt that Kellman was relishing his elevation to the Cabinet.
As for the notion of a general election before the January 2013 constitutional deadline, Belle said it would be risky to call elections now, when the economic recession has not ended.
“The Prime Minister has to bide his time and wait for the right moment . . . .The better the recovery, the better for him,”?Belle said.
