Attorney-General, Elvin Nimrod has lost his Legal Affairs portfolio to Education Minister, Claris Charles in a major Cabinet reshuffle announced on Sunday night by Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Mitchell.
Addressing thousands of party supporters at a public meeting in St. Andrew's, Dr. Mitchell said that Nimrod would remain with the portfolios of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, as well as Carriacou and Petite Martinique Affairs.
The move is seen as a clear attempt by the Grenadian leader to allow Minister Nimrod more time to remain in his constituency consisting of the two sister isles and to engage in direct political work "on the ground".
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| Min. Brenda Hood |
With general elections expected within the next fifteen months, the constituency is seen as key in the attempt by Prime Minister Mitchell to register a record fourth consecutive term in office.
Nimrod, an attorney-at-law by profession won the seat in the 2003 poll by a narrow margin of 6 votes from another barrister, George Prime of the main opposition, National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Mitchell's governing New National Party (NNP) enjoys a slender 8-7 majority in Parliament.
Authoritative sources told GRENADA TODAY that supporters of the ruling party have been sending strong signals to the leadership that they had lost confidence in Nimrod and would like to see him replaced by another candidate at the next poll.
Nimrod has been spending a lot of time on the mainland and an overseas trips in his capacity as Minister of External Affairs.
According to a well-placed source, NNP supporters around the country have been expressing increasing reservations about the electoral chances of several government ministers including Anthony Boatswain (St. Patrick West), Roland Bhola (St. Andrew North-east), Senator Brenda Hood (Town of St. George), Ann David-Antoine (South St. George) and Emmalin Pierre (St. Andrew South-east).
The ruling party is still to identify clear candidates for at least three constituencies on the island - St. George North-east, St. Patrick East, and St. David's.
As part of the Cabinet reshuffle, Finance Minister, Anthony Boatswain, was "demoted" weeks after internationally known Standard & Poor's lowered Grenada's long-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings to CCC+' from B-'.
Boatswain was removed from the key Finance portfolio to head the newly created Ministry of Economic Development and Planning.
After the 2003 poll, Minister Boatswain resisted moves by Prime Minister Mitchell to remove him from the post and to be assigned to another portfolio.
The Grenadian leader reportedly backed away from the impending confrontation given his precarious position in Parliament.
In the shake-up, Dr. Mitchell would become the new Minister of Finance while retaining all his other portfolios including National Security and Information.
The Prime Minister disclosed that the new Ministry of Economic Development and Planning would help the island adjust to the changing global environment.
Under the new ministry, Boatswain will be responsible for Business and Private Sector Development, Domestic and Foreign Trade, Industrial Development and Manufacturing, the Physical Planning Unit, the Marketing and National Importing Board (MNIB), the Grenada Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) and concessions among others.
As part of the Cabinet re-shuffle, Tourism Minister, Senator Brenda Hood, is to make a switch with Clarice Modeste-Curwen, in the Ministry of Works and Transport.
The changes did not affect Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy, Gregory Bowen, Sports Minister, Roland Bhola, Health Minister Ann David Antoine, and Youth Affairs Minister, Emmalin Pierre.
The Cabinet changes will take effect from next week Tuesday.
The Prime Minister said the reassignment of portfolios were made following consultation with members of the team, and that he has already advised the Governor General to make the necessary changes.
