Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell left reporters dumbfounded over his reasons for sacking Senator Jonathan LaCrette on Wednesday as the island’s Minister of Youth and Sports.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, the Prime Minister said he did contact the Governor General Dame Cecile La Grenade on the decision and then informed Sen. LaCrette in front of the rest of the Cabinet of Ministers about his dismissal.
“The reason for doing so (firing the Minister) is that as Prime Minister, sitting in the Cabinet I formed the view that I had personally lost trust and confidence in Minister LaCrette in his capacity as a Minister and in those circumstances I thought it was appropriate for me to inform him of that fact and to inform his fellow Cabinet colleagues,” he told reporters.
“I want to emphasise that there is no personal issue between myself and Mr LaCrette – I am quite fond of him – there are no personal issues between him and the Ministers of Government – they have an excellent relationship,” he said.
According to the Prime Minister, the decision taken to fire Sen. LaCrette from the Cabinet and also the Upper House of Parliament is one that falls squarely on his shoulders and no one else.
“This is purely an issue of my Prime Ministerial discretion in relation to Mr. LaCrette as a Minister in Cabinet and in circumstances where as Prime Minister I no longer hold the confidence in any particular minister, the only appropriate thing to do is to relieve the minister of ministerial duties and I have so done,” he said.
PM Dickon Mitchell went on to say: “…I will not get involved into the nitty-gritty of the details – they are not appropriate given the fact that it is a trust and confidence issue,” he said.
Within the corridors of Congress, there are reports that the Prime Minister was forced to take action after LaCrette allegedly defied instructions taken at the level of the Cabinet not to release the contents of letters he received from a financial institution about his financial standing.
A well-placed source also told THE NEW TODAY that the sacked Minister is the alleged suspect of the leaking of information from the National Lottery Authority (NLA) information to talk show hosts associated with the opposition New National Party (NNP) of Keith Mitchell.
He said that the Prime Minister is also disturbed of an alleged secret meeting between LaCrette and Dr. Mitchell that was arranged by a female individual that was once linked to the Integrity Commission.
This individual who is known to be a close ally of NNP had approached family members of the current Members of Parliament for St George North-east Ron Redhead to try and influence him not to contest the 2022 election on the NDC ticket.
THE NEW TODAY is also aware that Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell was disturbed when he was informed several months ago that a Court Bailiff contracted by Nexa Credit Union was about to repossess Sen. LaCrette’s vehicle for non-payment of a loan.
A government insider said the Prime Minister summoned LaCrette to a meeting to try and resolve the issue that could have been embarrassing for his administration.
In addition, LaCrette did not co-operate with a colleague minister who approached him on holding his hand on the appointment of a government employee who was working on contract as opposed to an appointment letter from the Public Service Commission.
Sen. LaCrette did not answer his cellphone when THE NEW TODAY called him for a response to his sacking from the Cabinet and Parliament.
However, a few seconds later, he responded via a whatsapp message: “… Blessings Sir. I cannot pick up at this time.”
Sen. David Andrew who holds the substantive position of Minister of Education will act for the time being as Minister of Youth and Sports until a decision is made on a permanent appointment.
The Prime Minister told the Press Conference that LaCrette still remains a member of the Congress party.
“I look forward to continue working with him in that capacity as a member of the National Democratic Congress,” he said.
LaCrette has been acting as the party’s Caretaker candidate for the St George North-west constituency currently held by Opposition Leader Keith Mitchell, the Political Leader of NNP.
The Prime Minister denied claims being made in some quarters that the firing of LaCrette came after a heated exchange between the two during a meeting of the Cabinet.
He also said he had no knowledge of the claim in some social media posting that after LaCrette was dismissed he was escorted out of the Ministerial Complex by members of the Security Forces.
“..I have no knowledge of that so I can’t confirm or deny. I will be surprised that it can even take place,” he said.
Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell stated that after he dealt with the issue and LaCrette had left the room that he himself had stayed in the Cabinet Room.
“I am not in any position to speak to anything that would have happened outside of that. I subsequently communicated with Mr. LaCrette by messages and subsequently he did not raise with me those issues.
“I can’t presume but I would have thought that if something like that happened that it would have been raised – but I’m not aware of that,” he said.