Business View Caribbean July 2023

9 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN VOLUME 10, ISSUE 7 OPENING L INES SVG PM hints at changes ‘in the political configuration in gov’t Source- Caribbean .loopnews.com, First published July 08, 2023 Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has hinted at changes in his government when Parliament meets next week for the first time in its temporary new home. “When the Parliament is opened on the 13th back here, you’re likely to see one or two changes in the political configuration on the government side. But that is a discussion for another time,” Gonsalves said in the east coast town of Calliaqua Thursday, as he addressed the official opening of the temporary Parliament building. Last month, lawmakers met for the last time in the dilapidated 200-year-old building that was built to house the National Assembly and the High Court. The government says it will build a new parliament building in Richmond Hill on the outskirts of the city and has built a temporary building to host the National Assembly in the interim. Political observers have speculated that Prime Minister Gonsalves could replace one or more of the four government senators, in keeping with a practice he has adopted at the mid-term of the election cycle since coming to office in March 2001. Urban Development, Energy, Airports, Seaports, Grenadines Affairs and Local Government Minister, Julian Francis, has attended just two meetings of Parliament since suffering a stroke last July and Gonsalves has been shouldering the additional ministerial burden. However, political observers have speculated that the government is more likely to replace Deputy Speaker, Ashelle Morgan, an attorney, and/or Rochard “Pitbull” Ballah, parliamentary secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Security, Legal Affairs, and Information. Both legislators have failed to make an impact politically since being appointed senator after the November 2020 general elections. In fact, Morgan, along with Karim Nelson, an assistant director of public prosecution, went on trial last November in connection with the April 13, 2021 shooting of then-60-year-old block-maker Cornelius John at his Diamond Estate home. Morgan was acquitted of the charge that she assaulted John on April 13, 2021. Nelson was also acquitted on charges that he unlawfully and maliciously wounded John and unlawfully discharged a firearm at him on the same date. There is no indication that either Morgan or Ballah would emerge as a candidate in the next general elections, constitutionally due by February 2026, when Gonsalves’ Unity Labour Party will seek a sixth consecutive term in office. Some political observers say the Prime