NASSAU| Prime Minister the MOST HON. Hubert Minnis is now set to announce changes to his Cabinet today following the resignation of former Health Minister Dr. Duane Sands.
BP is learning the Prime Minister is considering appointing Senate President Dr. Mildred Hall-Watson as his first choice to become the new Minister of Health.
The decision on the new Minister could come following the Cabinet Meeting today, but this appointment will pose a challenge for the PM.
According to the Constitution of the Bahamas, if the Attorney General is a Senator, there can only be two other Cabinet Ministers from the Senate, which means, if Dr. Hall-Watson is confirmed as the new Minister of Health, one of the present three Cabinet Ministers who are Senators, Carl Bethel, the AG, Dion Foulkes, and Kwesi Thompson, must leave the Upper House.
Inside sources have told BP, ” This will create a huge vacuum within the room and force several changes to the make-up of the Parliament.”
Carl Bethel, we reported before, could move to the Bench as a Justice of the Bahamas. The idea was introduced to the PM last year. However, Dr. Minnis stalled making the decision. Bethel wants the Justice post, which secures him a handsome pension for his loyal support to the Competent Authority.
The move of Carl Bethel would then force the appointment of a new Leader of Government Business in the Senate and then also leave the PM the decision to appoint a new Attorney General.
You would recall BP reported how Lanisha Rolle was being considered for that post to keep her out of trouble. Rolle, you would remember, first made a mess in Social Services and Urban Renewal – a mess that continues to this day and is now making a catastrophic mess inside Youth Sports and Culture where multiple resignations from the service occurred.
If the PM agrees to move Rolle into the AG’s Office, we are hearing the sitting MP for St. Barnabas, Shanondon Cartwright, is being considered for the post as Minister for Youth, Sports, and Culture.
We understand a final decision on whatever changes the PM will make to his General Election Cabinet will be the final group of changes leading into the race and will come following Cabinet Meeting today.
Dr. Sands resigned from the Cabinet following a scandal involving some six American passengers who landed at LPIA on Wednesday, April 29th. The group did not receive the proper authorization to enter the Bahamas, particularly as some 400 Bahamians remain stranded in the US following the Emergency Orders Powers set down by the Competent Authority.
And get this: No one has yet seen the purported 2,500 double swab test kits supposedly donated in return for their entry into the country.
We report yinner decide!
