Cabinet muddle reflects badly on new government - German

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 3rd Aug 2007

Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly leader Mike German is seeking urgent clarification after the government announced that Carwyn Jones is to be temporary Counsel General and retain the duties of the Minister for Assembly Business - despite the fact that the Government of Wales Act says he cannot.

The Government of Wales Act expressly forbids the Counsel General from being appointed to any other Ministerial office. The government is trying to sidestep this by calling his new role "leader of the house", rather than Minister for Assembly Business.

Mike German, Assembly leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, said:

"It's perfectly clear to anyone reading the act that if Carwyn Jones is Counsel General, he cannot also be Leader of the House. And if he is Leader of the House, he cannot be Counsel General. I will be writing to Jack Straw, the UK government Minister responsible for Constitutional Affairs to clarify this situation. We cannot have a government which ignores the very act which created it.

"The government is trying to sideline the Government of Wales Act because it doesn't suit them. They need the extra posts to balance the numbers in the coalition, but are getting themselves in a terrible tangle to do so."

The government is arguing that Carwyn is not the Minister for Assembly Business, merely enacting those duties. Under Standing Orders, the Counsel General may act as a minister.

Mr German added:

"We have ministers, in order to provide accountability. If Carwyn is in charge of Assembly business, then he needs to be accountable, he should be a minister. But if he is a Minister, he cannot be Counsel General. We've grown used to muddled thinking under Rhodri Morgan - it seems the new government is taking it to a new level."

"This doesn't bode well for the new government, if it cannot even put a cabinet together. I know sometimes when you get a flatpack cabinet home, the instructions are difficult to follow, sometimes there are too many bits, the diagrams don't look right; it can be confusing.

"But the Government of Wales Act is crystal clear: no more than 12 ministers at any one time, and the Counsel General may not hold any other office. It defies belief that they could botch their first task."