Last week we reported that it would happen by the middle of the month and, sure enough, today at noon on the fourteenth of July, the Prime Minister announced the line up for his new Cabinet. It is the second shuffle in 7 months and again, the biggest news is that Prime Minister Musa has again downsized the Cabinet, shrinking it from 12 to 9.
The main casualties are Minister of Housing Servulo Baeza and Marcial Mes. Both representatives will be Ministers without portfolios. Mes will be Minister in the Prime Minister's office and Baeza will be Minister in the Deputy Prime Minister's office.
It's an odd and largely useless arrangement which seeks to save face rather than save money. Baeza is a Briceno loyalist, and the Deputy Prime Minister went to bat for his only northern ally in the Cabinet. And while no one had to bat for Mes as he's a staunch Musa loyalist and our sources say that while keeping him in his Ministry serves no practical purpose it was a politically expedient decision to hold ground in the Toledo West division.
It is not clear from the GOB if these ministers without portfolio will continue to get their $80,000 salary and will continue to occupy seats in Cabinet. In both cases until we are told otherwise the presumption is that they will remain paid as Minister and keep their seats in Cabinet.
Other changes in the Cabinet occurred in the PM's office as he now assumes the portfolio of National Development for the departed Assad Shoman and the Ministry of Investment from Ralph Fonseca. Instead of Investment Fonseca is now the Minister of Public Utilities. It should be noted that he has a less than sterling record in that Ministry over which he presided when the entire Intelco debacle unfolded. Also gaining from the downsizing of portfolios is the Deputy Prime Minister who picks up local Government from Marcial Mes. Godfrey Smith loses the Defense Ministry to Health Minister Vildo Marin who surrendered Commerce and Industry to the prime minister. Human Development Minister Sylvia Flores now takes up the Housing Ministry from the deflated Servulo Baeza.
There are also changes in the assignments of Ministers of state. Notably Ainslie Leslie now becomes a Minister of State in the Ministry of Works leaving room for Servulo Baeza who steps into the Ministry of Natural Resources not as a Minister of State but as a Minister without portfolio ostensibly an assistant to full Minister Johnny Briceno.
In effect the new Cabinet assignments, while advertised as a downsizing, will effectively eliminate one minister from Cabinet, Assad Shoman who resigned anyway. The redeployment of Ministers Marcial Mes and Servulo Baeza seem more likely an accommodation than a cost cutting measure.
Notably the Cabinet breakdown into nine portfolios is the smallest ever for the Musa administration.