3 Dec 2010

Cooks PM announces cabinet line up

9:34 am on 3 December 2010

Cook Islands Prime Minister Henry Henry Puna has just announced his new cabinet

The Prime Minister Henry Puna has announced that Tom Marsters will be deputy Prime Minister, while Mark Brown, Teina Bishop, Teariki Heather and Nandi Glassie will all be ministers.

The Prime Minister will announce their portfolios tomorrow

Our correspondent Florence Syme-Buchanan says the composition of cabinet is much to be expected, including the notable omission of Norman George.

"The lineup are people that the public expected to be in, also the public did expect that MP Norman George would not get a ministerial role because he has been quite divisive in the Cook Islands Party and also questioning the suitability of Prime Minister Henry Puna to lead the government shortly after the elections also did not do him any favours."

Florence Syme-Buchanan says when asked about Norman George's omission from cabinet, Henry Puna said his government is intent on maintaining stability and all caucus MP's had supported the current composition of cabinet to achieve that.

Norman George is is in court this afternoon for a defamation case he has launched against Cook Islands News and cartoonist Tim Buchanan.

The court is to decide whether the case has merit to be heard.