B.Q. who no longer; AG Elrington resumes post

Dean Barrow

During his first term as Prime Minister, Dean Barrow changed the constitution to appoint an Attorney General from the private sector. According to the prime minister, the ministry was taken from Minister Wilfred Elrington so he could concentrate on Foreign Affairs. Barrow then appointed Bernard Q. Pitts as the Attorney General, in June of 2010. Pitts was eerily silent and uninspiring to the Bar Association, which opposed him during consultations on the proposed ninth amendment. It was no surprise then that the Prime Minister removed Pitts from the post, but it is noteworthy that the Attorney General is once again Wilfred Elrington and that despite a constitutional change; we’re right back to where it started. The P.M. explained his decision to the media.

Dean Barrow

“The persons who have been made senators and ministers are for a number—that’s the limit the constitution allows me—their ministries are critical ministries and those are the areas in which I wanted to ask them to serve. Wouldn’t have brought in another lawyer to serve as attorney general and as it were waste the opportunity to have the senator ministers do more than one portfolio subject.  Since the Minister of Foreign Affairs is perfectly capable of also being attorney general and since he has a solicitor general that has really reorganized that department—taken on addition crown counsels and is generally going great guns—I am convinced that it is a good move to ask Wilfred to handle both portfolios.”

All be told, it is fair to surmise that the big loser in the new cabinet is the Deputy Prime Minister, who was stripped of a number of portfolios, including geology, PACT, Forestry, petroleum and environment. He retains only responsibility for natural resources or lands. While he picked up agriculture, that ministry has been specifically assigned to junior minister, Hugo Patt. As to the big winner, it has to be Joy Grant who was brought in as a Senator and was awarded with petroleum.