The recently elected Parliament will still be installed by Governor Eugene Holiday on Easter Monday, but apparently can’t meet yet. If that sounds confusing, it’s probably because it is.
The plenary session to choose the Chair and Vice-Chair, usually held on the same day the new members take the oath of office, was postponed until further notice on Friday afternoon. The probable reason is lack of a final agreement on the governing coalition, which regards allocating Ministries as well as the presidency of Parliament.
This does not mean the country has been left rudderless. The interim Romeo-Marlin Cabinet will stay in charge with caretaker status, despite no longer having majority legislative backing.
Following the political turmoil of the past months while the island remained in recovery mode, one can’t imagine any elected representative wanting to start trouble at this time by, for example, submitting a motion of no confidence against the current Council of Ministers or individual Ministers. After all, again dissolving the legislature to go back to the polls early once more is hardly an option.
So, the outgoing UP/DP/Brownbill Government is to continue working unabated for now especially on the budget and reconstruction funds. These are two basically non-partisan issues of huge general interest, where whoever is tasked with the responsibility of calling the shots should simply stick to the road embarked on and “bring home the bacon.”
