The latest political developments were obviously the “talk of the town” on Thursday and came as a shock to many, despite earlier indications that something was amiss with the efforts to form an UP/NA government. At the same time this new situation with a prospective NA/US Party/DP coalition is basically a continuation of the status quo.
All these three parties were part of the outgoing so-called “Coalition of Eight.” The latter also included former independent parliamentarians Silvio Matser and Maurice Lake, who have since joined the US Party that will keep its Justice portfolio and get that of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT), afforded to Matser in the old setup, as well.
The Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI portfolio that fell under Lake has gone to NA based on its five Parliament seats, in addition to those the party already had – General Affairs, Finance and Education, Culture, Youth and Sports (ECYS). Other than that there won’t be much change, as NA’s three caretaker Ministers are expected to return as such, while DP (two seats) is also likely to keep its current cabinet member.
Whom US Party will nominate remains to be seen and it’s possible either or both of the current Ministers of Justice and of TEATT might return. If one of the party’s three Members of Parliament were to join the executive branch, it would allow Lake back in the legislature as the next in line on the candidate list.
Some readers are unhappy because of the apparent issues with the screening of UP nominees for Minister. They argue that while it regards parliamentary elections, people expect especially the biggest vote-getters to be able to work for them in the Council of Ministers. When they are not given that chance for whatever reason, this leads to frustration.
It has been suggested to subject all candidates standing for election in the future to the same strict screening beforehand, so that citizens are not confronted with these “unpleasant surprises” after the fact. Being a parliamentarian differs considerably from becoming a Minister primarily in the sense of governing responsibility, political accountability and access to public funds, but the way things are going at the moment is hardly ideal.
