Politics

(CNS): The court has moved quickly on the necessary proceedings over the challenge filed against the election of C4C member of the Legislative Assembly, Tara Rivers. According to the cause lists for this week, the Rivers case is listed for a directions hearing on Tuesday afternoon in Grand Court Five. The election petition filed last Wednesday, as revealed by CNS, queries the new education minister’s qualifications to be an elected member on two grounds. John Gordon Hewitt, the husband of Velma Hewitt, the UDP candidate who finished fifth in the West Bay poll, has petitioned the courts stating that Rivers has a US passport and was not resident in Cayman for the seven years prior to the election as required.

(CNS): Following the revelations on CNS Thursday that Tara Rivers is facing a legal challenge to her election to office at the May poll, the new education minister has said she intends to “vigorously oppose this challenge”. However, she has said very little about the details of the election petition filed in the court Wednesday, just hours ahead of the deadline for the petition. Rivers said she was committed to fulfilling her term and to serving the people according to what she called the “overwhelming desire” of her district and country. The new premier, who invited the C4C candidate into his government after her historic victory in West Bay, also offered his support Friday in a message from London.

(CNS): The Foreign Office minister for overseas territories, Mark Simmonds, has agreed to extend the Cayman government’s short term borrowing in order to help it get through the leanest period of the year and to tide it through its emergency appropriations at the year end. During his meeting with Cayman’s new premier on Thursday in London, Simmonds also said the UK would help Premier Alden McLaughlin’s government in its goal to privatize some elements of the public sector and said the FCO would provide technical experts who could advise Cayman on public/private funding packages that could provide necessary capital without long-term revenue consequences.

(CNS): An eleventh hour petition filed in the Grand Court is challenging the election of Tara Rivers as a member of the Legislative Assembly for West Bay. The petition has been filed by attorney Steve McField on behalf of John Gordon Hewitt, the husband of Velma Powery-Hewitt, the UDP candidate who came in fifth in the district poll. The court action is asking for Rivers' election to be overturned, as it claims she holds an American passport and did not fulfill the residency requirement to qualify as a candidate, and return Hewitt as the fourth elected member for the district. However, if successful, the petition may instead trigger a by-election because of the significant votes polled by Rivers that could have gone to other candidates had she not stood for election.

(CNS): The four man delegation that has gone to London to meet with both Mark Simmonds, the Foreign Office overseas territories minister, and British Prime Minister David Cameron ahead of the G8 meeting flew to the UK in premium economy, saving almost $20,000 in airfares for the public purse. Premier Alden McLaughlin, Financial Services Minister Wayne Panton, Finance Minister Marco Archer and Financial Secretary Ken Jefferson were all seen in the premium economy seats on board the BA flight to London on Tuesday evening rather than the far more expensive business class.

(CNS): Following the revelation that Roy McTaggart had decided to join the government benches last week, government said it planned to re-balance the Public Accounts Committee but it has not indicated how it plans to achieve the new line-up, which McTaggart will still chair. North Side MLA Ezzard Miller said Tuesday that he has no intentions of accepting any nomination for PAC. The independent member said eleven members voted against him last time and if his political ally, Arden McLean, also refuses, government would be forced to turn to the opposition UDP benches for a candidate. This could spell trouble ahead because the first reports PAC will consider are understood to be critical of the former UDP government.

(CNS): As the new PPM government faces a race against the clock to bring an emergency appropriations bill to the Legislative Assembly before the end of June just a few weeks after being elected to office, the premier acknowledged last week that government needs to change the election month back to November. Alden McLaughlin said that having the fiscal year start on 1 July with a May election cycle presented difficulties for a new government and a decision would have to be made about changing the election time because that was far cheaper than trying to change the financial year. However, while cheaper, it will not be without controversy since the choice is between the current administration adding six months to their term or cutting it short by six months.

(CNS): Following a two and half year campaign to prevent government from relocating Grand Cayman’s landfill to Bodden Town on land owned by the Dart Group, local activists claimed victory Monday following the comments made by the minister for environmental health last week. Speaking at a press briefing, Osbourne Bodden, the district representative and new minister with responsibility for the landfill, confirmed that it was not moving. Celebrating the hard fought victory, the Coalition to Keep Bodden Town Dump Free said the victory showed that the people can stand up and fight to protect their interests against unpopular government decisions. 

(CNS): As a Cayman delegation heads off to the UK tomorrow at the invitation of the UK prime minister, the local government representatives will also be meeting with the FCO’s overseas territories minister, Mark Simmonds, on Thursday to discuss Cayman’s budget situation. Premier Alden McLaughlin is keen to negotiate some leeway for the CIG and said Friday that “austerity doesn’t work”, referring to the fact that an economy cannot grow without some means of stimulus, as is evident from the failure of any of Europe’s economies to rebound. McLaughlin has said previously that Simmonds is open to negotiation and, as the new government begins to prepare the budget for the 2013-14 fiscal year, the premier said he did not want to further burden the tax payer with more fees or make dramatic cuts.

(CNS): The Cayman Islands government announced on Friday evening that it would commit to the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, further pushing out the boundaries of transparency in the offshore sector. After considerable pressure from the UK government in particular and in the face of growing international pressure for openness, transparency and automatic exchange of information between countries in connection with tax matters and beneficial ownership, Cayman is one of the first overseas territories to follow the crown dependencies in its decision to truly lift the lid on the offshore financial world.

(CNS): Addressing civil service concerns that the axe may be falling on their headcount, the new premier has reassured government workers that his administration will not be laying people off. Although Alden McLaughlin said the new government was committed to and had campaigned on cutting operating expenses, it will not be at the expense of people. Appearing as a guest Friday on Radio Cayman’s Talk Today show, he said the Progressives' plan does not involve firing civil servants or cutting their salaries. He said morale was not very high after salaries were cut under the previous leadership, despite its failure to restrain ministerial spending.

(CNS): The new tourism minister has committed to ensuring that both the cruise port facility and the redevelopment of the airport will happen under his watch and will follow process. Moses Kirkconnell said there were some major challenges facing the tourism industry but the Progressives would bring “an holistic approach” to the sector, noting that tourism is everybody's business. He pointed to the need to develop a cruise facility in George Town, which would be the piers only and no upland development as the government wanted to rebuild George Town. The new minister committed to getting the airport redevelopment underway as well. (Photo Dennie Warren Jr)

(CNS): In a surprise turn of events, C4C MLA Roy McTaggart has had a change of heart and is joining the PPM government. Premier Alden McLaughlin announced Thursday lunchtime that McTaggart has been appointed as a government councillor and will be working with Wayne Panton and Marco Archer in both the financial services and finance ministries. The U-turn on McTaggart's part, after he had elected to join the opposition, came after “careful consideration” in the face of the threats to Cayman's financial stability. McTaggart beleived his experience would be better used from the government benches, according to the Premier's Office. The premier confirmed that the former auditor would remain as chair of PAC but a PPM member of that committee would be resigning to pave the way to re-balance the committee. (Photo by Dennie Warren Jr)

(CNS): With the newly elected Progressive government facing myriad issues, all of its new ministers, whose roles were finalised Tuesday, will need to hit the ground running but Marco Archer, the new finance minister, has perhaps the most daunting task of all. The first time MLA who now has responsibility for public finance has no more than three weeks to deliver an interim budget and just three months to deliver a full budget for the 2013/14 financial year. Arriving in office to a surplus that falls far short of that promised to the UK government last year by the former premier and finance minister, McKeeva Bush, Archer also has to work within the plan agreed to by the UK. Photo Dennie Warren Jr