Former national security minister Brigadier John Sandy has been appointed to replace Therese Baptiste-Cornelis as the Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago to the United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland.

A release from the Office of the Prime Minister stated yesterday that Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar met with Sandy and handed over the instruments of appointment in the presence of acting Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal.

According to the release, Sandy is expected to take up his appointment as diplomatic representative to Trinidad and Tobago in a few weeks.

Baptise-Cornelis, the former health minister was appointed ambassador last year after she was removed from Persad-Bissessar's Cabinet.

However, her diplomatic posting was short lived as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs recalled Baptise-Cornelis following an embarrassing lecture she delivered at Institute for Cultural Diplomacy (ICD) on July 15.

The 37-minute speech was posted on the You Tube channel of the ICD and went viral, sparking condemnation and criticism from all quarters.

Baptiste-Cornelis rambled in the video where she disclosed that she was fired by the Prime Minister because she dared to take on doctors and "caused chaos" among them.

The former ambassador also said she was appointed as a health minister because she had taught the Prime Minister.

She also shared personal aspects of her life on how she met her husband on-line.

In August, a brief statement from the Foreign Affairs Ministry stated Baptiste-Cornelis' tour of duty will come to an end in September 2012.

Baptiste-Cornelis was supposed to return to this country to meet with Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Dookeran, but she never did.

Instead, Baptiste-Cornelis wrote to Persad-Bissessar indicating that she was resigning from the People's Partnership Government.

Sandy was removed as national security minister in June this year and replaced with Jack Warner.