ALL eyes will be on the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) over the next 48 hours as the long-expected Cabinet reshuffle may well be announced.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness last week announced that he was embarking on a reorganisation, refreshing and revitalisation of his Administration.

That signalled to many political watchers that the changes to his Cabinet, which Holness has been reportedly planning since late last year, was imminent.

According to Jamaica Observer sources, the changes to the Cabinet should have been made from late last year but a confluence of events led to the delay.

“When it was not major meetings overseas, it was major local programmes in individual ministries, and then it became the salary reclassification exercise which had to be completed so that ministers who would be cut from the Cabinet would leave with their new salaries,” said one source.

“The prime minister is a solid reader of the mood of the country and he understands the need for changes in the Cabinet at this mid-term point in the life of the Administration, but he also understands the political realities where, at least one person, who knows he will be cut from the Cabinet, is already angry and that could impact a seat the party has to win in the next general election,” added the source.

Already it is clear that Minister of Labour and Social Security Karl Samuda — who held a premature send-off party at the ministry last week — will be swept out of the Cabinet, with fellow veteran parliamentarian Audley Shaw also expected to be swept out.

With those changes already identified, political watchers are keeping their eyes on the ministries of education, agriculture, national security, information, finance and foreign affairs where other changes could be made.

Media reports have suggested that Kamina Johnson Smith will be moved from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade to make way for Audrey Marks who has served two terms as Jamaica’s ambassador to the United States and whose tour of duty is coming to an end.

But Observer sources say while Johnson Smith has proved her competence to the prime minister, it is unlikely that she would be shifted now.

“The PM named two new senators last week and if there was any consideration to appoint Audrey, she would have been named among them. It would be untidy to announce the appointment of another senator now. In addition, Jamaica has assumed the chairmanship of Caricom Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR) and Kamina is in that role for the next year, so there is no way the PM would move her now,” said another source.

The source argued that the media should keep its eyes on the two new senators, Dr Dana Morris Dixon and communications specialist Abka Fitz-Henley.

Morris Dixon is an economic and financial genius who could give support to Dr Nigel Clarke, “who is doing some heavy lifting in that ministry”.

According to the source: “That would free up Marsha Smith from her role as state minister in the Ministry of Finance and Planning to go do work in her constituency where she has lost the support of many Labourities, despite winning for her first term in 2020”.

In the case of Fitz-Henly, the Observer sources pointed to his impeccable communications history but noted that the PM could think twice before moving him into the Cabinet immediately.

According to one source, the Government has accepted that it needs to communicate its achievements to the public better but that is not the fault of the minister with responsibility for information, Robert Morgan.

“Morgan has brought life to the post-Cabinet media briefings and he has been out there doing the Government’s communication efficiently with his media background, so I don’t expect the PM to move him. But keep your eyes on agriculture where Pearnel Charles Jr could be shifted, and education where Fayval Williams is almost certain to be replaced,” said the source.

In terms of the security, the Observer sources said the PM appears satisfied with the job being done by Dr Horace Chang who is the deputy prime minister, so it is unlikely that there will be a change in that portfolio.

“But his state minister Zavia Mayne has been mostly silent since he was moved there in January 2022, so he could be replaced,” declared one source.

Having led his party to victory in the 2020 General Election, Holness named a Cabinet which he shuffled in January 2022.

At that time, Holness said the changes took into account the need for greater focus and attention on constitutional and legal reform as well as improving the pace of development and passage of legislation through the Parliament.

“These changes are also designed to facilitate greater coordination and synergy of resources on further increasing the number of housing units at affordable prices as well as the development and pursuit of new economic opportunities, such as the blue and the green Economy as we recover from the pandemic,” said Holness then.