Making his mark
Editorial
President Bharrat Jagdeo has started well on his new career. He has made no reference to the divisive past, he has put forward some interesting ideas, he has indicated that he intends to hold regular press conferences and he has invited Mr Hoyte to a meeting. There has been a generally favourable reaction. In addition, as a result of his previous portfolio, finance, which he still holds, he has a far more detailed and in depth understanding of the country's economic situation and the various programmes that are current than would be normal for an incoming president. This helps him to have a clear picture of problem areas and bottlenecks. To complete the strong impression that this could be the beginning of a new era fueled by fresh thinking and more effective action a cabinet reshuffle is needed. As he is well aware some ministers have not been getting the job done. They should be relieved of their portfolios, thus creating, with the addition of the important finance and trade portfolios that already have to be filled, a number of vacancies. Appointments could be made to these from party and non-party sources, perhaps even including one from opposition sources as a letter writer had suggested. Of course attracting capable people at current rates of ministerial pay is not the easiest task though some may be prepared to serve in the interest of the nation, at least for the sixteen months that remain to this administration. Party sensitivities have, of course, to be catered for as those are the people who have to do the hard work for the next elections. But in throwing her considerable influence behind the appointment of the youthful President Jagdeo former President Janet Jagan has shown a willingness to risk offending party sensitivities in choosing the person she considered the best man for the job, even though he had not served half as long in party councils as other stalwarts who had been with the party since the sixties. She will be fully aware how important it can be to put together a new team that can show itself to be effective and dynamic in the time remaining. Nothing can do more to give the party a new, modern image it badly needs. Since l992 the PPP/Civic administration has severely neglected the information and public relations functions that are important to help any government to keep the public abreast of what it is doing and trying to achieve. This has led to some of its achievements not being adequately publicised and to an almost complete lack of damage control when things go wrong. The ministry of information has never done a good job, for a variety of reasons among which is the fact that it has not been seen as a priority. It may not be practical or prudent to seek to make radical changes in this area overnight but some effort should be made to beef up the public relations personnel. < 
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