00:00Daryl Allaha, an attorney at law with 31 years practice, took his oath of office as a minister in the office of the Prime Minister on Thursday and shall be serving in the Senate as the new term of the Parliament begins on Friday.
00:13Almost three weeks earlier, on May 3rd, the majority of the Cabinet took their oaths of office, including Public Utilities Minister Barry Padarath, who was also appointed a minister in the office of the Prime Minister.
00:25Minister Allaha spoke with the media after the swearing-in ceremony at the President's House.
00:30In what capacity are you going to be, or as you are now, a minister in the office of the Prime Minister?
00:37Well, that will be revealed in due course. Very happy to serve. Very, very appreciative of the opportunity given to me by the Prime Minister.
00:46And I appreciate my family for allowing me to serve. I hope I can make a useful contribution at the end of the day.
00:53And I would say, stay tuned. It will be revealed in due course.
00:59Well, there's certain things, matters of state that you don't say until the appropriate time.
01:03And perhaps I'm not the appropriate person.
01:06Yes, so, hold some strain, hold some strain, and all will be revealed.
01:10TV6 users sought to find out from Minister Allaha if there is anything in particular he would like to see the new administration address.
01:18I can only speak as an attorney. I think all conscientious attorneys would wish that our civil justice system
01:27and our criminal justice system works to its optimum, and that we have, we continue to have a tradition of open justice.
01:39Minister Allaha said he was not speaking about government policy.
01:43It is another personal hope and desire that our system of elections, which is very old, archaic, hard to understand, and prone to corruption,
01:54that system of elections may be reviewed.
01:58And that is something that personally I feel very strong about in terms of our system.
02:04The new minister in the office of the prime minister was a part of the UNC delegation,
02:08which presented a dossier of the party's complaints against the Elections and Boundaries Commission
02:13to CARICOM observers just days before the 2025 general election on April 28th.
02:20The UNC also filed a number of complaints against the EBC on election day.
02:25But we've had the result of the election just here.
02:28That was a very clear victory.
02:30So could you just help us understand?
02:32I can clarify that.
02:35It is a self-perpetuating cycle, because every time we come out of an election,
02:43those things are forgotten, because we get into the cut and thrust of everyday politics,
02:50running the country, being the opposition, that sort of thing.
02:53And people forget the travails of the campaign and the difficulties.
02:58And there were difficulties on both sides, I am sure.
03:01But we have documented the difficulties in the UNC,
03:04of the difficulties we face with the system that we have.
03:08Again, that is a personal thing that I'm talking about.
03:12It's not a statement of policy.
03:14However, Minister Alaha sought to make one thing clear.
03:17You're saying that I had presented myself as a lawyer for the UNC, yes?
03:24And now I am a minister of government in a UNC government,
03:32and I've just taken an oath to be impartial and fair to everyone.
03:38So I hope that answers your question.
03:41Also present for the swearing-in ceremony was Attorney General John Jeremy.
03:44Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
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