And while Espat's differences with the prime minister was the flashpoint that led to the Cabinet unraveling, for Cordel Hyde the situation is different. He could have remained in the Cabinet; in fact, 7NEWS is informed that he was offered another somewhat inert ministry. But he declined, he says on a matter of principle. What was that principle, and how could he have been so compelled by it? Well, he told Jules Vasquez that it is a matter of honor, a commodity that seemed to be in short supply in the G7.

Jules Vasquez,
As we understand it, from government sources or sources from the Musa administration, you were not only offered a lateral move of retaining the Ministry of housing but you were offered an added incentive, another ministry. We were told you were offered the ministry of sports, why would decline this? Why did you refuse this?

Cordel Hyde, Lake I Area Rep.
"Jules there comes a time in a man's life when he has to stand up for what he believes in, stand up for a principle and I could not, in all clear conscience, accept an offer to serve in the Cabinet in light of the fact that one of my colleagues was being ousted for no clear or justifiable reason. We had a pact as a group of 7 in August of this year that we would all stand together. We lived by that pact and up until yesterday I had no reason to think that things would be any different and so I stood by that. If there was ever a time when we needed to stand together, I think it was yesterday."

Jules Vasquez,
So then if you stood out of loyalty to a pact you made in August, what do you make of those 4 other ministers, other members of the G7, who chose not to stand by that principle?

Cordel Hyde,
"Well let me say this also: I would have stood up and in clear conscience decline the offer from the prime minister not just because it was Mark but whether it was the deputy prime minister down to the Senator because I think we had common principles and philosophy which we lived by and which we supported and stood up for in August. I can't speak for the other members, they would have to speak for themselves on that matter, but I think that yesterday was a defining moment for us. It was that time when a man had to stand up for what he believes in and not just talk the talk but actually walk the walk and I felt like I had to do that. The other members I think will have to speak for themselves on that matter but I wouldn't want to be the judge of that."

Jules Vasquez,
How does the comedown feel? It must feel very deflating, you have been a ranking minister of government for two successive terms, on good standing, and now you're a civilian.

Cordel Hyde,
"Well I've always tried to keep it real Jules. I don't get too high off the job. I live among my constituency. I've always been there and I don't get elected as a minister, I get elected as an area representative first and foremost. I've never felt like I had any special design or claim to any particular ministry. I've never demanded any ministry and never pleaded for any ministry. I've always just asked the prime minister, that if he feels it fit to appoint me to the Cabinet, that he gives me the opportunity to serve my people to the best of my ability and don't put me in a position where I wouldn't be able to do that."

Jules Vasquez.
Many of the constituents feel that the institution of government is uncaring, selfish, and greedy even. What now are your supporters saying?

Cordel Hyde,
"Well they are not very happy. I've had a lot of visitors, a lot of callers, to express that to me and even on the radio they've been...to say that they are not happy is an understatement I think. But the one thing that comes out from what they're saying to me is that they give me full-fledged support. They think I had no choice in the matter cause where we come from, honor matters. Where we come from, your word means something. If you say you will live by something, if you can't stand up to that principle and that belief, then you are a little less than a man."

Jules Vasquez,
How much are you able to restrain what may be some of the more heated passions in the city which emanate from Lake Independence? Restrain it so that they don't feel that what you have chosen to do is an injustice dealt upon them?

Cordel Hyde,
"Well the last 21 months they felt the pinch. They felt like we've been going through difficult times and I've always restrained them. I've always told them that we'll continue to work the process and we will continue to work the process. This is a difficult and unique time though and a defining moment at that. I will have to consult with them and continue to do that and continue to stay close to them. But things are building up, energies are building up, people are concerned, some people are very worried, and time will tell where we go from here."

Jules Vasquez,
How do you continue playing in a power game, because politics is the art of manipulating your power or gaining power and wielding it one hopes with a sense of hope and justice but wielding it none the less, how do you remain in the game which is defined by power being basically a backbencher who is powerless?

Cordel Hyde,
"Jules anybody who knows me knows it hasn't been about power for me. I entered politics to try to uplift my neighborhood because where I live, I've always lived there; for all my life practically. So that I had no choice. I had to try and participate in the life and the upliftment of my constituency. It will be difficult, it will be a grave challenge but I will bring everything I got to the table. I will continue to press forward and be as aggressive as I possibly can on behalf of my people. I'll speak up in the House, I'll have a bit more latitude now than ever before, and I will try to work with my colleagues who are there to try to assist my constituents where their needs are and I will walk everyday and continue to work for them to the best of ability."

Jules Vasquez,
Do you expect that someway somehow down the line, for example if a new budget is presented and its your feeling that the taxes, and there will be new taxes all indications are, that the taxes imposed are inequitable in terms of putting an uneven burden on those who are least able to pay. Do you foresee that you could vote against a budget which makes recommendations like that?

Cordel Hyde,
"If I feel that the budget is not equitable, if I feel that the people who can least afford to pay more are being burdened and I feel that the persons who can pay more, who ought to pay more, are not paying more I will have to stand up against such a budget; my conscience will leave me no choice. At the end of the day Jules, whatever we do ought to be in the best interest of the majority of the people and that shouldn't be sacrificed for the interest of a few. The People's United Party, as I understand it, has always been about social justice, and yes the party has strayed from that a bit over the most recent past, and the events of August were about getting us on the right track. It was about steadying things and getting us in the direction where we ought to be. And everything I do from here on will be about trying to ensure that we do the right thing."

Jules Vasquez,
Do you ever see yourself joining or making a coalition with the UDP?

Cordel Hyde,
"Jules we are in uncharted territory. I don't think there's a roadmap anywhere that speaks to these times, its unprecedented. As I've told my colleague Mark, I've said, we are on a blind curve but on the right road and its better to be there than to be in the open on the wrong road."

Jules Vasquez,
In your opinion has the downsizing of the Cabinet, which the prime minister says is for streamlining the government, has that downsizing of the Cabinet assisted in anyway in making the difficult time ahead more manageable?

Cordel Hyde,
"I don't think so. From my personal opinion I don't think that the Cabinet has been strengthened one bit. I think the Cabinet has lost a number of persons, it has not resulted in any additions. It resulted in some re-alignments but no real addition so I don't think that in a real sense it adds anything. In fact I think it subtracts."

Jules Vasquez,
Are you being led astray by the bad pickney, in terms of is Mark Espat's marriage with your sister and influence, you said you would do it for any member of the G7 but according to the prime minister I've long known this that he thinks Mark Espat is the problem and he proved that by removing him. Are you falling victim to that?

Cordel Hyde,
"Jules we signed a pact in August, the 7 of us, to stand together. We sent a letter to the prime minister to that effect; we'll leave together and we'll come back together and we'll stay together. I made it abundantly clear to all my colleagues in that group of 7 that I think we have common principles and beliefs and that we should stand together, I made that abundantly clear yesterday. Up until late yesterday it wasn't only Mark Espat who was being asked to be out of the Cabinet you know, it was a couple other people out of that 7; it was like 3 people. And my position was the same, it's a hard sell to say well there isn't a good reason for removing a person from the Cabinet but at the end of the day, I can't tell the prime minister what to do. I can only say well sir thanks for the offer to be in your Cabinet but I respectfully decline."

Jules Vasquez,
It's a personal question but you've taken a big pay cut as a area representative, as a member of the national assembly you get maybe I think its $4,000 a month and as a minister you would have gotten at least another $40,000 or $50,000 and the prime minister has just announced he's going to ask members of the national assembly to take a pay cut.

Cordel Hyde,
"It's a terrible time noh."

Jules Vasquez,
You could afford that change of life?

Cordel Hyde,
"Good one Jules but I've never really lived above my means and I used to work before I entered politics you know."

Jules Vasquez,
So you'll go back to writing?

Cordel Hyde,
"I'll go back to what I can get paid to do and try to live honorably and respectfully."

Later on, we'll have much more on the Cabinet shake-up including a comment from the leader of the Opposition, and the first public explanation of the decision by the Prime Minister.