P.M. Musa To Shuffle Cabinet In Wake Of Immig. Scandal

Prime Minister Said Musa faces a pensive weekend as he contemplates the cabinet fate of Immigration and Home Affairs Minister Max Samuels. Reliable but unconfirmed reports are that Samuels will be stripped of the Immigration Ministry likely as early as next week - because of the scandal - and the Home Affairs Ministry - because the police department, which answers to that ministry has launched a criminal investigation into the scandal. But the Prime Minister's quandary is that he cannot kick Samuels out of Cabinet because that would be an unacceptable embarrassment for the party's co-deputy leader. So Musa may turn the Samuels matter into a low impact cabinet shuffle. A shuffle because Works Minister Henry Canton resigns his cabinet post effective September. In that case, Musa may simply strip Samuels and give him responsibility for Canton's ministry. Of course, that leaves open the question of who will take over Immigration and police, which are considered political liabilities in the run up to elections. As we have noted, Defense Minister George Price could be given the nod as a stabilizing presence in the Immigration Ministry, but the matter of who would take over the Home Affairs Ministry with the Police Department as its crown jewel is far more difficult to answer. In related news, we have confirmed that no less than the second in command in the Police Department, Assistant Commissioner Bernard Lino, has been put in charge of the investigation. He will be assisted by asp Justo Augustine of the Joint Intelligence Coordinating Center.