PPM teeters on brink over future LA quorum
Cayman Islands Legislative Assembly
(CNS): Having lost three members in less than two months, the PPM government still has a slender majority on the floor of the Legislative Assembly but it is facing the problem of not being able to form a quorum to hold sittings of parliament without support from at least one member of the opposition benches or asking House Speaker Julianna O’Connor-Connolly to give up her post refereeing the proceedings and take up a seat on the government benches.
However, the danger of this administration facing an early demise has seen the unlikely candidate of Ezzard Miller offer his support to the government if needed to maintain ten members in the House to meet the requirements of a parliamentary sitting. The independent member for North Side said he has no plans to join government but would commit to turning up to all the Legislative Assembly meetings between now and March to ensure that there is no enforced early election before government passes the amendments to the elections law in preparation for one man, one vote in single member constituencies.
Debates about the technicalities of needing ten members to support government’s meetings rage, as some say that if no one turns up from the opposition there would be no one to challenge the quorum, and if just one turns up to call government out the quorum problem is immediately satisfied.
While the official leader of the opposition, McKeeva Bush, and his three UDP/CDP members who oppose the electoral reform might be keen to see government fall as soon as possible and trigger an election under the current multi-member system, it is unlikely that the rest of the independent members now crowding the opposition benches will bring want to bring down the government before the elections law is amended.
Former PPM member Anthony Eden, who was the first to jump from the Progressives ship, crossed the floor in November on a very specific issue. He is also unlikely to want to force his former colleagues out of office before their time on a technicality and is also likely to ensure government can form a quorum of ten when it needs to meet.
The parliament is expected to meet later next month to deal with a number of issues, including amendments to the existing labour law to pave the way for the introduction of the minimum wage, though Employment Minister Tara Rivers is not expected to bring the new law, which has once again seen considerable opposition from the business community.
As the Chairman of the PPM party, Anton Duckworth should be feeling pretty awful right now seeing his party crumbling at his feet. In my 56 years on this island, this is the first time that I can recall any government being in such disarray.
As opposed to the UDP when McKeeva was prosecuted, you mean? Cause they were really tight, right?
The writing is on the wall…Question is can Alden read and understand it?…It’s time for a new leader in the PPM party…Can’t he and the rest of the PPM see this?
Typical Ezzard, will side with anyone for his own political agenda..As far as I am concerned if the government is that weak we need call for a new election and not have to depend on Ezzard to support them just so they can have a quorum..
Ezzard though, has his eyes set on the Opposition Leader position even if only for the few remaining months so his Alliance with the PPM serves him well…
Can’t for for 2017 to see them all gone…
@6:45pm 19/6 You will have a long wait if you want to see them all gone.
Your hatered of Ezzard Is clouding your ability to read the article or understand our constitution.
As the article states, if the opposition and independs boycott parliment there will be no one there to file a motion of a lack of a quorum and things would proceed wothout any opposition. If any one shows up on the oppositiop side the House is quorate and the point becomed mute.
You chose to disparage Ezzard’s commitment to come to work for his paycheck and do what his constituants elected him to do…………. go figure.
Ezzard must be doing something right, 4 years ago he was the sole independent member in the southeast corner and today there are 5. Chosing not to join Alden nor McKeeva appears to have been the intelegent thing to have done way back then.
hey alden…it must have been all those hard decisions you took over the last 3 years…….NOT!
wow…a government that achieved nothing in 3 years….will now be a lame duck for the remaining 18 months….
TO become a lame duck you must have started off with the ability and intent of doing something. If you are not actually going to do anything anyway, losing all your members doesn’t really make a difference. A dead duck doesn’t become lame when the feathers fall off.
PPM is dead
time to let expats vote and be elected…. or just let the fco run the show…..
the thought of a collection of backward, small town independents running this place is terrifying…..
Let the xpat vote to put us in the reservation you better stop smoking that donkey weed Breda.
So says the expat aka immigrant that had to leave his home country for a better life in the Cayman Islands.
Must really suck to be you … and your fellow countrymen.
– Who
not really…anywhere i go i try to make things better…thanks to my education and experience……you should be thankful for the free advice…..
next time try and address the issue…..
Who, better life? No, just better paid and warmer. Biggest downside are idiots like you and the people you elect. It used to irritate me seeing people throw away what should be a brilliant future for Cayman through incompetence and greed. Then, when I read your and other “haters” comments I finally figured you all deserve each other so just gonna earn as much as I can while I can and go. After all, I can’t vote so nothing I can do about it anyway.
Yeah, whatever buddy.
You can stay in this subsection of the comment thread and spew your typical anti-Caymanian rhetoric (on a Cayman-centered forum no less) and talk out of your ass all day long.
I will now return to the higher levels and address the issue at hand as I ignore irrelevant noisemakers like yourself.
Enjoy your bitter existence. I hope you find inner peace soon.
Deuces,
– Whodatis
Not anti Caymanian, Who, just anti you and your kind. And you are part of a very small minority. Most Caymanians are decent people.
So often the words “arrogant tool” spring to mind.
I love the sign off. “I am right, I am better, I am not listening to you”. It is the attitude of a 3 year old trapped in an adults body. King Baby writ large.
Hardly a better life, just a lot more money for less work. I love that your sorts equate moving to Cayman like 18th century immigrants to America, but dream on buddy. The premium which is on offer to expats to move reflects that Cayman is considered less attractive than onshore working, which is understandable given the cultural and physical isolation, the negative impact on the worker’s long-term resumé etc. If Cayman did offer a “better life” then definitionally the wages on offer would be lower than those onshore. However many are not ready for the pain of having to deal with the likes of Whodatis and his ilk in their day to day dealings. And that is not a reference to Caymanians, but to the small small percentage with attitudes like our favourite troll.
Will there be a choice in 2017 other than between the dodgy lot than get some things done or the well meaning lot that achieve nothing?
To 3:55pm 19/6 .If you and your buddies are waiting to control our Assembly, that will be a long time coming; the next Government is going to be led by Big Mac and he will change the Constitution so that it wont happen .Mark my words .The thought of you all running this place has a lot of people scared especially since we have had hints/suggestions posted in local publications in the past by a notorious “Paper Caymanian” of putting locals on reservations. In this case ‘Paper Caymanian’ refers to an individual who received Caymanian Status by grant but does not put Cayman first ,in fact he hates things Caymanian,but enjoys the benefits that being considered a Caymanian brings.
Anon 3:55pm
You sound like an idiot. Are you even aware that 100% of the lical population and 80% of the expat population (the ones who are happy with the Cayman Islands the way they are and appreciate the oppurtunity available) disagree with you?
Thank God for the 7 year rollover, in a few years we will be rid of you; in the interem enjoy that fat paycheck and warm weather you brag about.
I do hope that your boss, who is signing that fat paycheck, takes note of the fact that you are posting on CNS at 3:55 in the afternoon instead of working for that fat salary and fires your ass.
Take that first class education and that bigoted attitude back home with you and make your country more like Cayman so that you will want to stay home………..good luck with changing the weather there but people like you, with all the answers, can fix anything you put your educated minds to.
Remember to post on CNS when you are leaving for good, I would love to come to the airport to wish you a warm Caymanian farewell.
Its 9 years now mate. And given that Immigration cannot seem to process PR applications for years, by the time they heard its too late to then roll over people without opening a human rights case. You re not going to be rid of 3:55 if he wants to stay unless you get a functional Immigration Department. Better start to welcome him and the hundreds of other pending PR applicants to the Cayman family.
Lol!
Loved your post!
However, as we see, people like him / her are staying put, despite their disdain for Caymanians.
As I said, what a sad and bitter existence. I hope they have a heart doctor on call when their little Susie brings home a buff, handsome McField young man in a few years and together they securely anchor 3:55’s roots in this land.
Yes, the only purge for such a biased mindset is blood or dna.
However, we know he and his like-minded friends will do their best to “safeguard” against such atrocities by “self-apartheiding” their families with strictly monitored playdates, school functions and teen socials, lol! (As if that has ever succeeded against the most desired variants of the human male species.)
Try as they may, the final chapter in their book is inevitable. I suggest they just leave now. However, some people are unable to put their personal morals over their greed of money.
🙂
– Who
And you can hear the Crowd chanting MakeeWa MakeeWA Makeewa !!!
Curious … just what laws pertaining to social justice are at stake if a new government administration is form? For instance, I understand the minimum wage law is not for the business community interest, but for the interest of hard working people. If this administration prematurely dissolves, then this social justice law will not be passed. So what other social justice related laws are at stake???
Im just curious, because I know money talks louder than the people of these islands, and sadly it sure does influence our politics. I think the more the electorate are informed of these influences on our politicians, the better they will know how to vote. There is a non-for-profit site called “open secrets” that shows who is paying who in American politics. Perhaps we need a site like that just for Cayman, so to educate the public what big name in Cayman is giving monies to who. Profit trumps people’s lives in Cayman, and if we’re not careful, “they” will end up using and abusing ordinary people. Already we are suffering from high cost of living, and our own politicians appear powerless.
Now is your chance Alden, move that stinking dump to BoddenTown.
Fundamentally, a referee cannot be reasonably expected to discharge their responsibilities impartially and without conflict if they are a complicit and active member of one of the competing parties they are pretending to mediate.
Its one thing not to have a large majority, or even a majority at all. It is quite another to get all the various opposition members to agree on anything, let alone vote on it collectively.
I beg to disagree independents wil agree to collectively hold power and there goes the old football toss over and over again.
They keep fighting for power but they know not the hour, any minute any day it could be taken away. The more power they get the more power they want in this stupid game they play. They want power, political power, power power.( Memory of Justice)
In the midst of this madness, my main concern is the following;
What is happening with the cruise berthing facilities??
I sincerely hope all elected members of government can agree this is clearly NOT the time or circumstances to be committing the country to such great expenditure.
*The gay marriage / biblical debate is eternal and subjective. However, KYD $200,000,000.00 should only be entered (if at all) from a standpoint of calm and stability.
– Whodatis
The LA meets so infrequently as it is, members who don’t show up should have their salary docked by a percentage. (total salary divided by # of days the LA is scheduled to meet)
Ha, and if they had to vote to keep that from passing every day we might get 100% to show up!
“There are none so deaf as those that will not hear. None so blind as those that will not see.”