KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent - Prime Minister Dr. Godwin Friday says he expects to name his cabinet on Tuesday, following last weeks general election in which his ruling New Democratic Party (NDP) won a crushing 14-1 victory at the polls in defeating the Unity Labour Party (ULP) of Dr. Ralph Gonsalves.
Prime Minister Dr. Godwin Friday“I have decided on most of them, but I’m not going to tell you here, but we will do so very soon, informing my colleagues first,” he told reporters.
If the new government is inaugurated on Tuesday, it will take place one day before the 50th anniversary of the launch of the NDP which returned to the corridors of power after 25 years in opposition.
Friday, who was sworn in as St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ fifth prime minister since the country attained political independence from Britain on October 27, 1979, said he has “a broad range of talents available” to him.
Prime Minister Friday was the only member of the new government sworn into office last weekend, a departure from the tradition in which the attorney general is also sworn in at the same time as the head of government.
“Well, there’s some technical issues that we have to deal with first and in the time frame we had, we could not iron them out, so we will do so with the other ministers,” Friday said, adding that he was not prepared to elaborate on the reason at the moment.
“I don’t want to get into detail about it, but the point of the matter is that we sought to basically ensure that we have all of the things lined up properly to make the appointment. And we hoped that we could do it today. We hope that if we can, then we will do it on Tuesday. And we decided that we’ll do it next week.”
He said that in the interim, the new administration will be meeting with senior members of the police force and and the public service.
Friday down played reports that only one member of the diplomatic corps attended the swearing in ceremony, saying “it was very short notice, and the intention is that they will be present at the major ceremony that comes on Tuesday or Wednesday.
“This will be a more public ceremony,” he said, “they should read absolutely nothing [into it]. It’s just a matter of logistics”.
He sai the ceremony this week will be for all.
