Cabinet started to meet at 9:30 this morning and less than half hour later, Cordel Hyde and Mark Espat were out of the room - fired by the Prime Minister. It could have been predicted but most would have expected it after the vote on the Universal loan note was taken at Friday's House meeting as both Hyde and Espat were expected to oppose it.
So the surprise is not so much that it happened, but how quickly it happened; really, that it was done as a pre-emptory measure: the Prime Minister is hoping that no Cabinet Minister votes against his controversial motion.
And that's the bigger story. Up to this weekend, clear indications from Deputy Prime Minister John Briceno's camp were that he will vote against the motion. Observers agree that a "ney" vote from his Deputy would leave the Prime Minister in quite a political predicament. So perhaps trying to pre-empt that, some insiders suggest that he is using this bold action to set an example and demonstrate that he was not bluffing when he demanded full, unequivocal Cabinet support last week.
Only Friday will tell if it's enough to scare Briceno into line. In that regard, it's also of note that Briceno's closest Cabinet ally, Senator Eamon Courtenay has also been consistently opposed to it and Joe Coye has flirted with a "no" vote, while backbencher Florencio Marin had also been determined to vote against it. Courtenay, as we understand it from senior sources, is hedging on a decision on whether he will stay inside Cabinet.
But now, with this purging and example-setting, those in the Prime Minister's camp are boasting that all will fall into line.
The rest of the week will determine how successful the Prime Minister's maneuver has been but it shows, beyond doubt that the party's hard-line hawks are clearly in command, and the PM, so known for accommodation, is in no mood for conciliation.
An unusually plainspoken Cabinet release says of Espat and Hyde: they were, "asked to leave Cabinet for failure to honour a decision to be present and vote against an Opposition motion…(that was) critical of government." It continues, "the Ministers could not give a clear indication that they intend to support the government motion…on the important issue of the Universal Health Services." It concludes: "by convention, Ministers who do not honour the decisions of Cabinet must resign or be asked to leave the Cabinet."
The Prime Minister has not yet announced who will get the Ministries formerly controlled by the two.
For Hyde and Espat, it puts them out in the cold again but they've been there before. In December of 2004 the Prime Minister fired Espat and Hyde resigned in support. After a withering period of hostility from the backbench, they were later brought back into Cabinet. Espat proved his loyalty by leading the effort to restructure government's debt.
But now, all that's in the wind and the two are without government support coming up to what is sure to be a difficult election for PUP incumbents. But right now being out of a Cabinet that's endorsing what is surely one of the most unpopular pieces of legislation in memory can't be all that bad for political fortunes, and indeed the pair may emerge favorably in the eyes of the voting public for standing fast and firm against what is widely regarded as odious legislation.
