PM explains choice of Senator to Minister

Liselle Alamilla

In the Senate, there are twelve members; six of them are representatives of the government. The list includes Juliet Thimbriel, Gerardo Marconi Sosa, Charles Gibson, Joy Grant, Liselle Alamilla and Godwin Hulse. At his press conference at the NEMO headquarters in the Capital on Tuesday, the Prime Minister explained why he brought in Hulse and Alamilla as U.D.P. Ministers, rather than recycle former candidates from the throng of diehard supporters.  According to the PM, their credentials are also red.

Dean Barrow

Dean Barrow

“Minister Liselle Alamilla doesn’t come in—you know her background—wonderful conservationist, head of the Ya’axche Conservation Foundation in the Toledo district, somebody who has been a passionate advocate for us to deal with the rosewood situation in a manner that will be sustainable and somebody that will now be the point person to ensure that we achieve absolutely that. But Liselle doesn’t come in as the senator from the conservation movement, you know. She comes in as a U.D.P. senator. Right. She is now overtly a party person. On Saturday, we will have our first post election national party council meeting. Liselle will attend that as a part of the U.D.P. National Party Council. This was gone over between Liselle and me; between me and Godwin. What people don’t understand and I will tell you the analogy Godwin uses. He says, I am a catholic and I will never ever change my denomination. But if they are catholic priest that engage in bad behavior, it doesn’t mean that I don’t criticize them.

Godwin Hulse

I thought the analogy a little strange because who could say that his party, the U.D.P., ever engaged in bad behavior. All fun and joke aside, the fact that Godwin throughout the years has been a stern monitor, has been a kind of invigilator on behalf of the society, has been a watchdog, doesn’t mean that he ever moved away from his U.D.P. roots and his U.D.P. support. He has been a sort of man for all seasons; in agriculture, with the chamber—all over the map. But one thing that has been constant is the fact that Godwin is U.D.P. His coming into the cabinet, he was before the business senator; he’s not going back into the senate as business senator. He is going back into the senate as leader of U.D.P. government business and as a U.D.P. senator. We expect—and that is one of the reasons he has been asked to join the government—that he will bring to the table in cabinet, his same fierce anti-corruption position. Surely since this is on peril of the backlash that I will get among supporters of my party, surely though the larger society will be comforted and will recognize that this next U.D.P. government is altogether ser4ious about doing the right thing for the people of this country.”