Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley was able to keep his cool and still manage the country in such a way that there were no scandals every day, general secretary of the People's National Movement (PNM), Ashton Ford, said yesterday.
He made the comment in response to a poll in yesterday’s Sunday Guardian which showed a majority of voters were dissatisfied with the Government’s performance in its first year.
Speaking with the T&T Guardian, Ford questioned what the people expected when the PNM came into Government meeting the price of oil down to US$26 a barrel as compared to US$120 a barrel when the last administration went into office in 2010.
“We had difficulty in managing the affairs of the county and had to make some adjustments, which entailed holding back on a number of things we would have liked to do as stated in our manifesto,” Ford said.
He also commended Rowley for being able to bring back the economy to a certain level where T&T survived, “and still we were able to introduce 12.5 per cent value added taxes, start the housing programme, move into buildings that remained unoccupied during the five years the last administration was in office for public servants, we were still able to pay out to the Caroni workers and make adjustments to GATE in cutting out the wastage, attend to the much abused food card system and much more.”
Ford also praised the Government for not firing people when it first got into office, making reference to the 3,000 people who were fired within three months when the last administration took up office.
“We have not fired anybody from CEPEP, all the contractors are still there. We maintain the employment in the public sector. We have all the CEOs at all the regional health authorities intact and we still have the director at Education there,” Ford said.
In a media report yesterday, Rowley suggested adjustments were coming to his Cabinet after the upcoming national budget, including bringing in new faces via the Senate.
Asked about the upcoming adjustments that Rowley spoke of and any hints to what those adjustments may be, Ford said that was the call of the prime minister. He added that he remains in full support of his leader.
“The adjustments Rowley would be making would be in terms of governance. He is the only one who can judge performance,” Ford said.
Asked what the public could expect in the upcoming national budget, Ford only said that the Government would be in a better position now to present the budget as compared to having just mere weeks, as it did when it came into office for its presentation of the 2015/2016 budget.
Poll a signal to Govt
Political analyst Winford James said yesterday that the Government ought to be concerned and make the relevant adjustments for the better to keep people's goodwill in the coming second year.
James was commenting on a Sunday Guardian poll where the majority of some 961 people polled said they were dissatisfied with its performance in its first term. The results for being very dissatisfied represented 65.66 per cent of voters—631 people.
Although admitting he was doubtful about whether the result of the Guardian poll was truly representative of public opinion, as it did not seem to be a scientific poll, James said if he was the Government and got such a result he would be concerned that people were calling on him and his government to make relevant adjustments where the economy and diversification were concerned.
“It’s a signal to Government that the people are not happy in the way it’s going and therefore the Government should pay attention and make the relevant adjustments," James said.
Asked what he thought about Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley’s announcement in a media report that adjustments in the Cabinet would be made after the presentation of the national budget, James, noting the PM’s cautiousness in the way he signalled changes are coming, said he believes that his (Rowley’s) aim is to “make governance better than how it is going and that he wants to have greater efficiency.”
Efforts to contact Rowley yesterday were unsuccessful as he did not answer his cellphone, but in an interview with I95.5 FM yesterday, Rowley said the upcoming adjustments were not about performance but about “the Government keeping its shape in certain ways and maximising strengths and minimising weaknesses.”
He added that he tried as hard as he could to give some sense of stability in the Government’s structure in the first year, admitting that there was one adjustment he had to make and that was when former housing minister Marlene Mc Donald exited from Cabinet.
“I had to make a decision because of that and I don’t know what will happen in the future, but I am not required to give out portfolios to people to pacify them in any political structure, which was the shape of the last government. I don’t have that problem.”