THIS is a question many people have been asking after he was offered the role of deputy speaker by Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre, who made the announcement at Thursday’s swearing in ceremony of the Cabinet of Ministers.
But for Norbert, who ran on a Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) ticket in the general elections making history when he won the Micoud North seat which was the last bastion of the United Workers Party, he was not snubbed at all.
“I want to say that openly as it relates to picking a ministerial portfolio— (the prime minister) gave me the option. However, with many things considered, I opted to assume the role of deputy speaker. I assured the constituents of Micoud north that there is no disappointment there. There are some very important matters that I have to deal with, you know the trauma that I (went) through with my leg. From that trauma I jumped back straight into the race and I never took time out to recuperate and that was my biggest concern. Right now I still have a little bit of sensitivity and discomfort and I did not want to put extra strain or stress on my limb and make it any worse,” Norbert said.
He called on constituents to trust the decision of the Prime Minister.
“I think we have trusted him to take us far and I know that he will take us even further as it relates to coming out of the mess that we are in right now. There was immense anticipation both in my constituency and on the national level because that’s a historic moment, so lots of people were looking forward to seeing whether I would have been given a ministerial portfolio. You’ll expect that, that is natural,” he said.
According to Norbert he is working under the stewardship of Prime Minister Pierre who has given him the assurance that Micoud will be a top priority for the government.
“It does not take away anything from just being a parliamentarian,” Norbert said.
Norbert is pursuing a degree in Political Science and Pierre also took this into consideration when he offered him the role of Deputy Speaker.