Dec 09 - Seismic Cabinet Reshuffle Looks to Take Gibraltar into the Future
Marking the Government’s 3rd anniversary in power a shock cabinet reshuffle was announced this morning as ministers were ushered into No.6 to face the Chief and Deputy Chief Minister, one by one, mirroring the UK Government’s practice.
The most noteworthy shifts in ministerial responsibility see Minister Costa lose Tourism to Minister Sacramento, as well as responsibility for the Port and Public Transport, to Minister Balban. Instead Costa takes on much of Minister Bossano’s former roles including Employment, Labour, Skills and Training and Business. He also obtains responsibility for Postal Services. Taking to social media to express his surprise Minister Costa confirmed that he was looking forward to ‘the challenges entrusted to [him] by the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister.’
Minister Linares walks away from the reshuffle retaining his responsibility for Sports, Culture, Heritage and Youth but also taking on aspects of the Social Services ministry, including Drugs Rehabilitation, Civic Rights and the Ombudsman. Other aspects of the Social Services ministry to be broken up include Elderly, which has been given to Dr. Cortes as it is relevant to Health, a ministry that Dr. Cortes will retain responsibility for. Minister Licudi takes on further judicial related aspects of Social Services as well as responsibility for the Fire Brigade and Civil Contingencies.
Whilst losing Housing, Minister Balban gains the portfolio for Public Transport and the Port. Leaving No.6 he told the press that Housing had been a challenge, but he took pride in taking over the ministry following the death of Charles Bruzon. He noted that now he can focus further on developing the Sustainable Traffic Plan.
Minister Isola retains Gaming and Financial Services but takes further responsibility for Maritime matters and the Yacht Registry, all aspects, the Chief Minister explained, that required marketing outside Gibraltar.
Minister Sacramento saw perhaps one of the biggest shifts in ministerial responsibility, losing the Elderly to Cortes, but obtaining Tourism and Housing, whilst still retaining the portfolios for the Care Agency and other aspects of Social Services.
Minister Cortes has taken on Linares’ former post of Minister for Public Utilities, with a new post under ‘Climate Change’ also afforded to him.
Bossano Solves Unemployment Issue
Minister Bossano faces the most prominent change, adopting the new role of Minister for ‘Economic Development’. He retains his ministerial post for the Gibraltar Savings Bank but takes on full constitutional responsibility, which the Chief Minister formerly held. Minister Bossano also takes on Telecommunications following the sale of Slovenian shares in Gibtelecom. His new ministerial portfolio will see the Minister concentrate on developing Gibraltar’s economic growth through investment.
Following speculation that this seismic shift in Bossano’s responsibilities could be construed as the Government trying to weed him out of the Cabinet, the Minister insisted to the press that those who may think that ‘must be GSD’. He explained that he was ‘the father of [his] party’. The Chief Minister further added that Bossano has played an integral role in developing Gibraltar’s level of employment over the past three years, with unemployment figures dropping from around 1500 to 269. Both Bossano and Picardo commented that, as his role in developing the economy through employment has now been achieved, his responsibilities will now see him look towards high economic growth through other means. Picardo insisted that there was no better candidate to carry out such a role.
Deputy Chief Minister Dr Garcia, who aided the Chief Minister in developing the reshuffle, has retained his position as Minister for Civil Aviation and Planning but further takes on an official title as Minister for European Affairs, which will see him continue much of his lobbying work within the European Parliament and Commission, as well as overseeing the development of the Gibraltar Office in Brussels.
Garcia has also been given responsibility for overseeing all major Government projects, including manifesto commitments. The Chief Minister adopts the seat as Chairman for Gibtelecom, as they believe it fits better under his role of Finance Minister following the sale of Telekom Slovenije shares to the Government. The Deputy Chief Minister emphasized that Ministerial role changes were not based on the poor performance of any Cabinet members. The Chief Minister further added that reasoning behind the shift was quite the contrary, adding that his ministers had delivered ‘exceptionally over three years’ and he wanted them to do as well in other areas. He said that his Cabinet works very closely together, ensuring that any handover of roles will be done easily.
The repositioning of responsibilities comes approximately a year ahead of the next election, cementing Picardo’s vision of where he wants to take Gibraltar and his Government in run up to the end of the GSLP/ Liberal Alliance’s first tenure in Office. The restructure reflects Gibraltar’s current needs, and how he wishes to develop the Rock into the future. His own Ministerial roles see a small shift, with Picardo also taking on the position of Chairman for the Gibraltar Development Corporation which he also believes fits appropriately under his role as Finance Minister.
