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He was Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth for thirteen months, but tonight Marcel Cardona is just a regular backbencher. The UDP’s Orange Walk East Representative was stripped of his Cabinet portfolio this morning. Word came at 9:00 in a brief announcement which simply stated that, “certain ministerial changes (will) be made in the interest of smooth functioning of the business of government.” 

But this is not the Cabinet shuffle that many were expecting, it is a shuffle involving only Marcel Cardona, and designed only to oust Cardona, like taking a single card out of the deck and putting in a new one. And the new card is Cayo Northeast Representative Elvin Penner, formerly the Minister of State in the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment. He will take over Youth and Sports from Cardona and additionally take on Broadcasting and Information form the Prime Minister. Culture will go to Tourism Minister, Manuel Junior Heredia. During the PUP’s first term, Culture and Tourism had also been linked.

And while he loses his portfolios, Cardona is not even demoted to junior minister; the Prime Minister has opted to bring in Orange Walk South Representative Mark Pech who had been languishing at the far end of the backbench to take Penner’s place as Minister of State in the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment.

So is it a punitive measure? When we reached the Prime Minister today, he would only say that it is a better fit. And while that is the official line, sources within the party and the government tell 7News that it was only a matter of time before Cardona got his Cabinet pass pulled. First, it was felt that he crossed the Prime Minister during the Dianne Haylock controversy by engaging in action beyond a point agreed to by Cabinet. The PM’s impatience with Cardona was apparent when he spoke dismissively of him at a press conference in January.

And at that time Cardona was staying put. But the rift between the PM and him coupled with the come-uppance that the Culture Minister got when he was directed by Cabinet to extend Dianne Haylock’s contract for another year pushed things in the other direction. According to multiple accounts from Orange Walk, it was felt that Cardona – whose Orange Walk East Division makes up about a third of Orange Walk Town – was not being a team player in the drive to municipal elections. While we’re sure he has his own side of this story and we did try and call him to get it – the bottom line is that’s what very senior people in the UDP were saying up to Friday. And, the information we get suggests strongly that this was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. So, there was a party caucus on Friday after the House meeting on Friday and we are told that from then, it was clear that Party Leader Barrow was circling the wagons against Cardona.

But whatever the reasons were, the question now is, what will Cardona do? He’s a man known not to take slights very lightly and speculation varies as to his next move. Some say, he may choose to entertain proposals from the other side, while others say he may engage in direct action against his government. Again, we left multiple messages for him, but they were unanswered. We do know that sound sources in the UDP tell us that they are ready to put up new names when the orange walk east convention rolls around.

An interesting political pickle, except it is hardly suspenseful, because the UDP has such an overwhelming majority that they can afford to juggle one seat, and second, Prime Minister Barrow feels that Cardona has already done his worst, and the UDP still won the Orange Walk Town Board, if only by a very small margin. And thirdly, with the opposition in disarray after its third successive major defeat at the polls, the party in government doesn’t have to worry about wolves at the door.

In other political news of note, the Belize City Council will be sworn in tomorrow, and because of the series of scandals that plagues the last council, three senior government Ministers: Michael Finnegan, Patrick Faber and Carlos Perdomo were sent in this evening basically to read Moya and her councilors the riot act, and to make it clear what will be expected to them. The Prime Minister has also indicated that he will appoint an overseer within the council who answers to the Ministry of Finance.