…Roopnaraine reassignment, other matters on agenda

PRESIDENT David Granger will today meet with the executive members of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA), a member of the APNU group, to hammer out issues related to the reassignment of Dr Rupert Roopnaraine from the Ministry of Education to Public Service and other issues.

Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, said the meeting will take place at State House. The WPA had requested a meeting with the head-of-state following Roopnaraine’s shift to the Ministry of Public Service on Tuesday. Dr Roopnaraine’s new portfolio became effective on Thursday.

On Tuesday, President Granger announced that following discussions with Dr Roopnaraine on Monday, it was agreed that Dr Roopnaraine would be reassigned to the Ministry of Public Service. However, the move by the president caught executive member of the WPA Dr David Hinds by surprise.

Hinds, a vocal activist said the party was not consulted on the matter. While he did not deem the move to be malicious, Dr Hinds believed it could have been handled differently. However, despite Dr Hinds’ statement, Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, said “I can say to you that before Dr Roopnaraine was moved, the president did consult with the leader or the Chairperson of the WPA, Desmond Trotman, as well as the leader of the Alliance for Change… The parties were contacted by the President and advised about the movement before it took place.” The issues affecting the WPA will be discussed in full today at State House, Harmon announced. “The meeting will be held on Saturday at 10 am at State House as requested by the executive of the WPA.”

Dr. Roopnaraine has made it clear that he is ready and willing to serve wherever he is assigned by the President. “I am looking forward to the new ministry; it is a new challenge,” the former minister of education said, while adding: “I did the best I could in the Education Ministry; we got some things achieved.” He explained that he was well acquainted with the education sector, and so moving to a new ministry to which he is unfamiliar will prove challenging.

“I anticipate that the Public Service Ministry is going to present its own types of challenges, having to deal with the conditions of the public servants and what their concerns are. It is going to be different,” said Dr. Roopnaraine, who noted that he is comfortable with the move.

Dr Hinds for his part had noted that if beyond the meeting with the President the WPA is not satisfied with the outcome, it would prefer additional consultations. According to him, he has documented regularly the need for consultation at the level of the government, noting that it is one of the “weaknesses” of the APNU+AFC administration.

As regards the announcement of the Education Minister’s reassignment, he said that the WPA was “amused “at its timing, noting that it was made on June 13th, the date on which the party’s founder Dr Walter Rodney was assassinated. “We are amused by the fact that you would announce on the anniversary of the assassination of Dr Walter Rodney, this kind of Cabinet reshuffle, which in the minds of the population we can understand, they will see as some kind of demotion”, a vocal Dr Hinds noted.

He said that the WPA would have preferred the entire issue to be undertaken in a consultative manner, noting that the party would have advised against the June 13th timing. He noted too, that while the announcement may not have been done in a “malicious“ manner, it was done insensitively. As regards the party’s role in government, Dr Hinds said that as a part of the coalition, the WPA retains a ministry, noting that “whether that is long term, we don’t know.” He noted however, that it is unlikely that the party’s place in government would be threatened.