If you think that it's Christmas week, which is no time for politics, well you're wrong. For an embattled Musa leadership, apparently, it's never not time for politics, and the Prime Minister proved that yesterday when he fired Eamon Courtenay from his Cabinet.
That's right; 7NEWS has confirmed that the Prime Minister met with Courtenay, the minister of foreign trade yesterday afternoon in Belmopan and told him that he is removing him from Cabinet. No official announcement of this has been made and when we reached Courtenay by phone today, he declined any comment. And while he has been removed from Cabinet, Courtenay, we are told, has not been removed from the Senate, at least not yet.
It's a major move because, as a Cabinet member, Courtenay was one of the 16 most powerful men in the country. But more than that, he is a powerful party insider, and executive member of the PUP as deputy national campaign manager. But unlike all but one other member of Cabinet, Courtenay is not elected, and represents no constituency or power base. Which means that by alienating him, Prime Minister Musa takes only a minor political risk. What is the consequence of all this? Well, in studio to analyze it is News Director Jules Vasquez. Jules why would the prime minister make such a maneuver on the day before Christmas Eve?
Jules Vasquez, 7NEWS Director
Well Alfonso, the prevailing belief is that it is a warning to two of Courtenay's colleagues, Mark Espat and Johnny Briceno. As you know, Courtenay was a ranking member of the G7, in fact, he along with Johnny Briceno led the negotiations on behalf of the G7 when they met with the Prime Minister's negotiators. But as a minister he, as you rightly pointed out in your intro, has no constituency and had been on a sharp decline. He, depending on who you listen to, surrendered or was stripped of the Attorney General's ministry in the August debacle and really foreign trade is a sub-ministry of what used to be trade and in that you basically deal with quotas for bananas and sugar, matters of import, but not of weighty statecraft. So he has seen successive downgrades. And since then, he had indicated quite publicly that he would be retiring from politics to return to his legal practice. So, as you described this, in itself, is not a big hit from Said Musa.
So then why did he do it?
Jules Vasquez,
Well, that's the $64 million question. But certainly, the belief among those in political circles is that the Prime Minister, as I said earlier wants to send a message to two people: Mark Espat and John Briceno. Clearly the Musa people have been putting out the message that as an upstart Mark Espat wants to challenge for leader at the February convention. And on the other side, they have been threatening Briceno, who's been shaken up by rumors that Vildo Marin, an always-pliable instrument of the Musa leadership has been covertly campaigning for deputy and by the fact that he too may be shuffled. Now these are the two that could challenge Musa for leader, but they could hardly do so without two vastly powerful ministries: natural resources and tourism and this may be an attempt by Musa to send them a message indicating his seriousness without, as you said, losing politically in terms of alienating a constituency.
But to touch Mark Espat and Johnny Briceno, that would be something else?
Jules Vasquez,
Well Briceno is a powerful man in the north. Apart from having a stronghold on his division, he owns a television station, recently opened a radio station and a cable company. And Mark Espat, won by the largest margin in the city with over 80% of the voters in Albert, and he is Evan X Hyde's son in law, so alienating him would be moving against a legit media empire.
Not a very prudent political maneuver...?
Jules Vasquez,
On the face of it no, but I don't have the cards that Said Musa has. And of course all this is speculative at this juncture because there has been no official word from government. All we do know is that Courtenay has been removed from Cabinet. Though we understand with a caveat that he and the prime minister have a follow up meeting next Tuesday after the Christmas holidays. The purpose of that? Well we don't know.
But is the G7, as such, still a factor, aren't they to some extent dissipated and divided?
Jules Vasquez,
Well, indications are that they may be. This week's Amandala editorial pronounced that Smith had defected from the G-7 in exchange for a post in the PUP executive, presumably as co-deputy leader to replace the disgraced Max Samuels. So the G7 is no longer the strong, undivided unit that they were in august. In fact, our information is that after Courtenay's removal, 4 of the 7 yesterday met in the open air at the Radisson, Stone Grill dining area, without Mark Espat and Cordel Hyde. But we are told they have been meeting today, and may, could emerge next week as a unified front all this certainly makes for an interesting Christmas.
I'm sure you'll keep us posted.
Jules Vasquez,
Well, we believe there may be more consequential developments on Tuesday, but it's a game whose pace is dictated by the Prime Minister in his executive discretion.
