Many peo­ple may look at the Prime Min­is­ter's lat­est reshuf­fle as an in­di­ca­tion that her Gov­ern­ment has col­lapsed in of­fice. Noth­ing is fur­ther from the truth. Her an­nounce­ments showed more of a prob­lem of po­lit­i­cal struc­ture than of her gov­ern­ing style.How are min­is­ters se­lect­ed in our coun­try? We pick up those who are loy­al re­gard­less of their che­quered past. Do we ask the kinds of ques­tions that the Amer­i­can Sen­ate Com­mit­tee asks prospec­tive ap­pointees of the Oba­ma ad­min­is­tra­tion?

The fol­low­ing ques­tions are for fu­ture of­fice­hold­ers:

1. Pro­duce your school records of any de­viant be­hav­iour;

2. Have you ever been be­fore the courts?

3. Do you have a good re­la­tion­ship with your neigh­bours? This must be in­ves­ti­gat­ed.

4. Do you have a good re­la­tion­ship with your spouse? This in­for­ma­tion must be val­i­dat­ed from neigh­bours.

5. Can you han­dle liquor?

6. Have you ever been in any ques­tion­able deal­ings? Po­lice records must be in­ves­ti­gat­ed.

These are the kinds of ques­tions to ask in or­der to get a ju­di­cious mix of hon­est, re­li­able and God-fear­ing peo­ple in the Cab­i­net. Un­til then all we have as­sem­bled is a pack of jok­ers whose main aim is to line their pock­ets and make mis­step af­ter mis­step.

Let us not de­lude our­selves, the PNM is an­oth­er pack of jok­ers in the present sys­tem. We need to change the en­tire se­lec­tion process to get an eclec­tic mix of hon­est peo­ple. God help us all.

John Jes­samy

Fyz­abad