The Opposition Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, Jermaine Figueira has recently been removed from his role as the Shadow Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport.
This change is one of the many portfolio adjustments made by the Leader of the Opposition, Aubrey Norton, ahead of the Budget Presentations on Monday. However, while other MPs were moved to other positions, Figueira was removed from the Shadow Ministerial portfolio entirely.
In his justification for booting Figueira, the Opposition Leader said that a lot of work should be done in the field of Youth, Sport, and Culture, emphasizing that “we need an activist, someone involved in sport”.
He went on to say that the new Shadow Minister Honorable Nima Flue-Bess is “qualified in sport and is still involved in sport at school”.
According to Norton, the purpose of the reshuffling is, “to make us more effective and efficient as members of parliament, providing an opportunity for those regional MP’s to do more work in the region”.
In a letter to the Central Executive Committee of the People’s National Congress Reform, Figueira defended his work as an MP and requested that the CEC review the decision and consider its reversal if it is found to be unjustified.