Hope is the air to our aspirations. It's also a sentiment that, if dishonoured, can become toxic. That's the duality buried in the seeming euphoria behind the UNC's return from exile.

The dust has settled. Ministers, ministers in ministries and parliamentary secretaries have been sworn in and sent out. The urgency of their task can't be understated.

Folks, I wasn't exactly blown away by this cabinet. That will make me deeply unpopular, but that's not much of a downgrade from pariah anyway. My expectation was for an A team that could drag us out of this bog of murderous crime and economic hypoxia. Some faces I immediately got, others not so much.

Jearlean John is considered a results-oriented taskmaster who doesn't suffer fools. In a nation with fools aplenty, these are admirable qualities. It's a work ethic and mindset John cultivated in the private sector, where she was respected for her caustic contempt for poor productivity. While the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure is important, I'd have preferred it if she were given a portfolio more directly linked to the critical transformation TT desperately needs.

Then there's the pick of Kama Maharaj as Minister of Trade, Investment and Tourism. It was funny to read someone online saying, "He deserves it." It's the other way around. The country is lucky to have him. What he has achieved with his cosmetics brand in the international market is astounding. Additionally, his grasp of the digital economy is precisely the sort of expertise we need to infuse the ministry with progressive thinking. Except for a few others, however, the rest of the cabinet appointments just don't inspire the same level of confidence.

I'm going to reserve judgment until the new ministers work out the lay of the land. It's useful for the Prime Minister and her charges, though, to appreciate the environment in which they're operating.

This country needs to throw our shoulders into a turnaround faster than most people understand. Forex shortages will only worsen; their effects becoming more acutely felt. This administration must go after low-hanging fruit that can, in part, shore up forex inflows while tackling longer-term objectives.

To my mind, the priority ministries are Defence, Homeland Security, Energy, Finance, Trade, Investment and Tourism and Agriculture. That ranking in no way diminishes the importance of others. The ones I've identified as priorities are going to be crucial if we're going to stabilize the economy, stimulate growth and, most importantly, bring violent crime under control.

A UNC government should know that this victory doesn't mean voters resoundingly voted for the party. Elector apathy was a factor, judging by the low turnout. Also, the PNM's two consecutive terms of consistent non-performance that levied suffering on the population, coupled with Stuart Young's questionable attractiveness as a leader, also lubricated the outcome at the polls.

Hope is a perishable sentiment. When the NAR, Panday's UNC and the PP government were voted in, ther