Government yesterday announced that the remaining three ministers who resigned from parliament because they are dual citizenship holders, have been given portfolios in the ministries they once oversaw.
They are, respectively, former Minister of Foreign Affairs Carl Greenidge, who is now Foreign Secretary; former Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin, who is now Director of Manufacturing and Marketing; and former Minister of Public Service Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, who now has responsibility for public service and disciplined services colleges.
The decision by the government will be seen as circumventing the import of the High Court’s ruling against dual citizen which required them to resign as MPs and from their assigned portfolios. The dual citizens have all now been restored to their former ministries even if with altered responsibilities. Critics also point out that taxpayers will be saddled with paying for additional persons in the various ministries at the ministerial rate.
