Premier flexes legal muscle against Mac
Alden McLaughlin, Cayman Islands Premier
(CNS): Premier Alden McLaughlin is turning to the courts for the next round in the fight with the opposition leader over his controversial allegations. The premier, who is also a qualified lawyer, is demanding a public apology from McKeeva Bush and a retraction of the ‘conspiracy’ allegations, which he has categorically refuted. McLaughlin’s lawyers have also issued a warning to the media not to repeat the allegations made by Bush, otherwise they too could be sucked into the legal battle.
The private member’s motion, which has been tabled in the Legislative Assembly and accepted by the speaker, calling for an independent public enquiry into an alleged conspiracy to oust him from office is defamatory, McLaughlin’s lawyers have said.
CNS understands that a letter has gone to Bush giving him until 1 May to respond and demanding a retraction of the allegations made in the motion and that the apology be published in the press.
The premier has categorically denied the allegations and publicly called Bush a liar, challenging him to produce evidence to back up his accusations. However, Bush has said he wants to produce the documents he claims to have relating to the alleged conspiracy on the floor of the Legislative Assembly.
McKeeva Bush, Leader of the Opposition
The parliamentary privilege covering debates in the LA would give Bush protection from any legal action. But McLaughlin says that by delivering up the content of his motion to the press in the committee room of the LA during a media conference last week, it had no such protection. Bush read out the contents of the motion and handed it to all of the local media outlets before answering questions about his claims and what he believed happened in connection with his criminal case.
In the letter to the press from Hampson and Company, the lawyers say that the content of Bush’s motion is “wholly false and unfounded”. Because it is presented as fact McLaughlin believes the allegations are “very serious and highly damaging” as Bush is implying McLaughlin was involved in a plot involving the coercive powers of the state to boot him from office.
The lawyers say they have consulted with “highly experienced” lawyers in the UK, who advised that the words used by Bush are defamatory and actionable.
“We have advised Mr McLaughlin that it follows that any re-publication or repetition of Mr Bush’s defamatory allegations by the media would in our opinion be actionable by him against the party responsible for that re-publication,” they wrote in the letter to all of the local media houses (posted below).
Check back to CNS later for more on this and reaction from the opposition leader.
So Alden warns the press not to further publish Mac’s allegations? So what of all of the statements made by Mac in the LA and recorded in the Hansard of the relevant LA session(s)? Alden going to take the Government to court for publishing Mac’s statements? What of media outlets that merely quote verbatim Mac’s rants as contained in the Hansard? There is no libel in doing that as it is a matter of official public record. Hansard transcripts are even available online. (Albeit wayyy late.)
C’mon, Alden! Grow the heck up! Stop acting like a school child. And if you still insist on doing so, at least let’s hear a “Sticks and stone may break my bones…” from ya. Ok?
I say Mac should not apologize by may 1st , but demand that it be heard in the LA by may 1st , so we can get this done. We need some good entertainment.
This issue is not about Alden Mclaughlin vs Mckeeva Bush. It is about the interference and detention of democracy in the Cayman Islands.
The UK / FCO / Governor / OT Minister / British PM etc don’t care one iota about either gentleman personally – or any of us for that matter. Their issue of contention is when any entity of the lowly and unequal overseas territories dare to stand up against their unilateral authority.
Picking (local) sides in this matter is futile and short-sighted. Feel free to do so of course – but like it or not – the “enemy” is common to all of us. Just a little food for thought …
– Whodatis
Oh dear … the opposition is out in full force today.
(Missed you guys!)
Anyway, I refuse to be divided by those that rule over us. That’s from Page 1 of the colonial handbook – 1615 Edition.
Try again …
In the words of the great Walt Kelly, ” we have met the enemy, and he is us”. What else do you call it when we steadfastly refuse to seek independence and continue to elect the same bozo’s. I guess its just easier to have someone to blame for all our misfortunes, including those inflicted on us by those we directly elect.
Mac Why don’t you ask about the twenty million wastsed on Tempura why you are about it Now that is a cover up that will shock the Cayman as much as your current fight. But why Mclaughlin stands by and does nothing because he does not want to upset the fco is shameful . Shame on you all
I have just been reminded that this is not the first time that Mac has been sued for libel. He lost two other cases and if I know anything about Alden he is not going to waste time going to Court if he does not feel he has been wronged and has a winnable case. Mac knows he will not have any traction in the Budget Debate so he is looking for a way to remain relevant and distract the Government and the people from what is turning out so far to be a successful term in office by the Progressives-led coalition. Does anyone else find it strange that Mac did not mention his former colleagues who at the end of the day are the ones who threw him out of office?
“Democracy has become the worst disease that mankind has ever developed. By allowing the most vicious and able liars to climb above people’s reasonable thinking, you have allowed the whole world to shift in the wrong direction towards self destruction. Now you have psychopaths in power because only they can climb above the most vicious of the human beings without any consideration for them, or even the pain inflicted on them during such climbing”. From a small but potent book entitled “Why we are coming back” available as an ebook or print from amazon. Please continue to stand strong in your efforts to bring rhis country’s governance back to the light of day Alden.
27/04/2015 at 6:20 am
Do not make unsupportive statements. Mac’s tenure in Office along with his programs and various projects and achievements are well documented for all to see. His good legacy speaks volumes about his achievments. You obviously are a Mac Hater. Wake up and face the truth; this government has done very little to curb umemployment, crime and tackle the major projects that are badly needed to move the country forward. Your head is in the sand; look around you and see the failures.
Perhaps you should open a special account and give mac a credit card so he can gamble to his hearts content, and so the rest of us can sleep at night. I warn you he’s not cheap.
I will do that as soon as he is voted back in and my personal nation building fund is refilled.
Obviously you’re referring to the unemployment, crime, and major projects that beloved mac completely ignored as premier of this country while gambling away what was left of our money after giving millions of it away to ensure he remained in a position to continue doing that???
I find it strange that no one seems to realize that the unemployment issue can be linked squarely to Mac’s “status and residency grants” of 2003. I wonder how many of those people hold positions that all these Caymanians are being turned down away for?
Actually, all “those people” are…uh…Caymanians!
(Oh, I see…this is one of the old us-vs-them let’s all resent “paper-Caymanian” things, huh?)
Give it a break, Bobo! Dem’s Caymanians ya talkin’ ’bout, yah. And dem gots the paper to prove it. It is called a grant of “Right to be Caymanian”. So they have every bit as much right to be hired for a job as any other Caymanian. (And the right to be called “Caymanian”). Period. End of stale, dog-eared, worn-out argument. Culturally some of ’em (the one’s who resist assimilating and to them I say: Why the hell did you come here in the first place?) are as out of place in these islands as they would be on the face of Pluto, but that’s another story for another time.
It would be good to bear in mind that the issue of allowing “those people” from outside of the islands to compete in the local job market did not begin or end with Big Mac’s government. Grabbing some quick statistics from the Immigration website, in the year 2014 there were over 1,600 grants involving either Permanent Residency or the Right to Be Caymanian. In the last half of 2013 the number was over 1,500 such grants. That is in the ballpark of 3,000 such grants in a year and a half (allowing a deduction for re-processed deferrals). A goodly portion of these people will be able to compete in the local work force. Ok, so: Whose government was in power in late 2013 and 2014?
BTW: I am absolutely no Mac fan, but for the sake of comparison: in 2003 Mac’s “blanket grant” amounted to a bit over 2,800 grants of Caymanian Status. Also bear in mind that many of Mac’s grantees would have ordinarily qualified for grant of Permanent Residency anyway.
Just commentin’…so ya know.
Too funny! I get it!
Alden I hope it’s your money you spending and not the tax payers!! I will be FOI this in the near future!!
Please dont class Alden with mckeewa bush.
My sweet now he looking pity from us, sorry Alden for too long you and your team have let us your supporters down. We have a right to hear this evidence bobo!!
Smart move by Alden. Mac wants to use his immunity in the LA to rant about conspiracy theories and make the country look bad. This move will force him to make those claims in a court of law under threat of perjury. Of course if Mac is telling the truth he has nothing to fear and should welcome the opportunity. Alden has called his bluff.
Mac wasted the taxpayers’ money, now he wants to waste our time and distract the incumbents from repairing the awful damage he did to this country. He’s like an angry Hornet that has nothing to offer except more pain and irritation.
27/04/2015 at 8:27
Please be real! Mac didn’t start this matter and he deserves to be heard and present his side of the story. He has a right to be angry as all trumped up/silly charges against him were dismissed. The angry Hornet is the law suits that will be rolled out pretty soon.
I am sure Mr Bush as a devote religious person loves gospel music as much as I do. He ought to listen to the well known song penned by the late great Hank Williams ‘I saw the light’.
Sadly I think unlikely it will take place, but you must confess, it is quite a good idea.
Freedom of speech does not mean freedom to lie. If a court of law finds that Mac’s accusations are false and therefore damaging to Alden’s reputation then the media is well advised not to repeat them. That is what responsible journalism is all about. It is why media houses have editors.
The truth is always a solid defense against libel. If Mac’s statements are true, and he has proof that they are true (just as he claims) then he has no fear of being convicted in any court of law, and any respectable news organization would jump at the chance to print that convincing proof. However, if it is his usual bluster….
Gotta just love this, Bush is fantastic… They so no education but sure looks like he got more than this bunch in office.. Bring the evidence we the ppl have the right to see how everything ties together as it was obvious Bush arrest was planned to destroy him..
Good to see you are keeping an open mind until you see the evidence
This guy is too full of himself, try go do what you do best sit at Mango and country and have a cold one
There is not 1 human in this world that have done all things bad or good, however Mac have done more harm to these islands than good than any one else. His warped sense of progress and development along with his holier than all others is detrimental to this Island and he should seriously un-mount his horse and do not run again.
He seriously do not know the difference between good and bad, and have put this country on a downward spiral that will take years to recover and I mean recover for the betterment of all.
Mac is only using the LA to run his mouth and still have immunity. We will soon see how much evidence he has. Mr. premier you are on the right track, take him to Court and let him bring all the evidence he claims to have. We are all waiting to see what is written on those papers he is flapping around. He must be squirming about now. He just need to go away far far away!
Time for a new cartoon
Go Dey Alden. Look like mac figet da TKO you put on Foolio in the LA building. Poor guy was cross eyed for weeks hahaha.
At least Foolio had the decency about him to remove himself from the public eye.
DICTATORSHIP at its finest!!!!
Premier Alden McLauglin is acting like a Big Girls Blouse. The other view is that he’s really afraid of his nemesis former Premier McKeeva Bush revealing any details about his allegedly involvement in aiding to remove Bush from office.
Their juvenile actions prove they are two sides of the same coin. Cayman suffers as a result.
Fo far too long things have been covered up in cayman and it seems this is an attempt to frigthen the press and others. We elected you Alden and we have a right to hear what this evidence is, you are not judge and jury although it seems you are trying to be with the action you have taken.
Of course you would prefer for Alden to act like a coward and give Mac his way .If Mac is right , let him prove it, if he is wrong, he will just take more licks.
So I guess you are saying that if Mac had said something about you and it was a lie ,that you would say “It is ok,it’s Mac ;anything he says or does is ok”.
You say that ” we have a right to hear what this evidence is”, I guess you agree with Alden then.If Mac has proof ,the let him produce it,if not then let him apologize.
Alden its called a democracy not a dictatorship.
Lol Alden dont feel good eh when you the one in the press.
Alden needs to get to the bottom of the Stan Thomas fiasco and get this out from under the rug and the public deserves to know exactly what happened there. Maybe this will quell the gambler’s (the loser’s) wining for a while.
It is unbelieveable how much wrong this man and his sister ju ju can do in this country and get away with. Then to top it off he’s got the gall to blame decent people for the results of his ignorance.
You have to laugh at Mac, only he could publicly accuse someone and not realize that can get him into trouble in the courts. He is so good at slandering people in the house and hiding behind that privilege, it amuses me that he could not wait for that.
LOL, this is developing into ‘handbags at dawn’.
So, we want him to produce evidence but at the same time say nothing more about it? AND MUTE THE PRESS as well?!!!!
It’s pistols at dawn mate, and the mute thing is normal when legal proceedings are possible. The whole thing, if correctly handled, could bring about an interesting twist for Bush.
So this does prove there is no such thing as freedom of speech or freedom of press
The Premier is sending a clear message to all of the Cayman Islands, I am the most powerful man in the country and anyone who questions or challenges my authority or aides anyone who chooses to do so shall be taken through the legal system that I control and shall be dealt with in a manner of my full power and wrath!
This is the signs of true dictatorship and a government of compliance. While Big Mac is simply playing politics in a game of experts, his intentions are not of value, but simply a struggle to regain power for greed and the same dictatorship control.
We need a new government of young educated open minded people, not the same old foots.
If you hire 2 teams of roofers to fix a leak for 20 years while alternating each time and the roof is still leaking after 20 years, don’t you think it’s time to try a better team that can show you a detailed roof plan of where the leak is coming from, what caused it, and then how their going to fix it?
I am not a huge fan myself, but if my understanding of this is right the Premier is actually making a shrewd move and the whole Bush thing could end up being heard again in a civil court, and IMO has the potential to bring about a different conclusion. The potential court proceedings would be the reason for the press ban. Anything said openly from this point on can be used in court against the person. The burden in Civil actions is based on reasonableness, what a reasonable man would do. It’s different to criminal proceedings where the burden is beyond reasonable doubt and the press ban to stop information that could mislead a jury.
Despite the outcome of the Bush enquiry, I for one don’t think what happened back then was reasonable and I think the outcome was absurd. A fair judgment in the civil court could potentially lead to well-needed change. Perhaps then less money and time will be spent on foolishness, and more money and time on Cayman.
I absolutely agree with you though on the need for new, educated blood. With diplomacy, integrity and a wealth of experience on finance and accounting I hope.
you mea n like the “he threw us under the bus” comment made by his BT reps said when Mac was the Premier
Now you would think that would be true and you are calling for a young educated open minded group to replace the old fools which is also admirable. Where though are we going to find in our midst people who are truly independent, with vision and able to withstand the politics of a small island. We thought we had found them in the likes of Ms Rivers and others but alas they have proved to be inept at best and so entrenched in their own ignorance, particularly about education, that the old guard are beginning to look a better option after all.
This is taking it to a new level , and stop the media , because it is damaging to the premier . Do we realize that when one has such great powers , that could become more than dictatorship . What’s happening with the freedom of speech / media ?
If you were accused of something you were purported to have done or said, which accusation had no merit but, which could seriously damage your personal, or professional reputation – what would you do. It has nothing to do with Dictatorship – and the Premier has no control over the Legislative, or Judiciary system. You need a little more education I fear.
The skeptical, if I were accused of something that is not true, and I know that it’s not true, I would not WORRY about anything until I see you the accuser in court of justice . But the lawyers sending a letter to the media telling them to not publish Mr Bush comment/ allegations again , sounds like someone is exercising his power to shut up the FREEDOM OF THE PRESS Act . I again I say that when one man has this kind of power it’s worst than dictatorship.
The Premier has not shut up the Press – his attorneys have warned the Press that if they publish the details of bush’s claims THEY may also expose themselves to legal action. They can print what they like – the decision is their’s, but it could be an expensive mistake.