After incrementally gaining ground in each of the three years that the People's Partnership has been in government, the Tobago Organisation of the People is seeing a reversal of its fortunes in government. Have these developments being engineered behind the scenes by the TOP's political leader, Ashworth Jack?
Following the May, 2010, elections, one of the two elected TOP representatives, Vernella Toppin-Alleyne was appointed a Cabinet Minister and assigned responsibility for the newly-established Minister of Tobago Development. The other, Dr Delmon Baker, was appointed a Minister of State in the Ministry of Tourism.
The first Cabinet reshuffle in June 2011 saw the TOP adding to its stock in government with the appointment of Pastor Terrence Baynes to the Senate. The TOP's contribution to the Cabinet was further enhanced after the second Cabinet reshuffle when Christlyn Moore was made Minister of Justice, after having replaced Terrance Baynes in the Senate.
The net effect of the changes over the three years is that the TOP contribution in the executive and legislative arms of Government was increased by one Cabinet Minister and one senator, respectively.
Perhaps initially the TOP benefited from the withdrawal of the Movement for Social Justice from the Partnership prior to the first reshuffle, and subsequently, from the firing of Volney as Minister of Justice.
What then accounts for the change in the TOP's fortunes in the last reshuffle which resulted in the firing of the Minister of Justice after one year on the job, and the TOP being disproportionally represented in government? It could hardly be the (lack of) performance of the former Minister of Justice, in whom the Prime Minister expressed confidence at the time of her appointment.
The PM is reported in a Joel Julien article in the Express of 27 September, 2012, as having said that "Ms Moore brings to this Ministry a wealth of experience as she has practised at both the criminal and civil bars for a number of years and is acutely aware of the shortcomings that plague the administration of justice and the challenges that it faces and which we have to overcome if we are to adhere the noble ideal of justice for all."
Ms Moore's appointment was also heavily endorsed by Avory Sinanan, lead counsel for the Commission of Enquiry into the 1990 coup attempt. Mr Sinanan was reported by Ria Taitt in an Express article of 21 September, 2012, to have said "I am confident that she would acquit herself in the discharge of her function as Minister of Justice with dignity and distinction. I am extremely heartened that a person of her calibre has been appointed as Minister of Justice."
It is therefore highly unlikely that Ms Moore would have gone rogue or fell asleep on the job in a year.Ashworth Jack's general media silence since the High Court's unprecedented ruling on the TOP's elections on June 1, has become deafening of late, even more so on the issue of Christlyn Moore's removal from the Senate and the Ministry of Justice.Speculation in Tobago is that Jack is engineering the anti-clockwise spinning of the TOP's fortunes, albeit from behind the scenes.
Gladstone Solomon
Hope Village, Tobago