Party-politics redefined in new elections law

| 13/09/2016 | 16 Comments

(CNS): Government has finally published its amendment to the Elections Law, paving the way for the introduction of ‘one man, one vote’ in single member constituencies at the May 2017 General Election. While the reform of the local electoral system is at the heart of the new bill, it also places a greater emphasis on party politics and gives the elections supervisor the power to register teams and groups running on the same platform as political parties he sees fit. The long-awaited historic bill will change the face of Cayman’s electoral landscape but some candidates may not like the new rules on teams and groups.

According to the new bill, “Any group of persons whose activities indicate they come together to contest an election, shall register as a political party,” which means that groups such as the Coalition for Cayman, the ticket on which three of the currently elected MLAs ran while claiming to be independents, would be declared a political party under the new legislation.

The change to make party politics more defined impacts election financing. Completely independent candidates can now spend $42,000 on their campaigns between Nomination Day and Polling Day, while those in parties are limited to $36,000 per candidate during the same period. There are no limitations, however, on the cash spent on campaigning before Nomination Day.

The bulk of the amendments to the original law in the 60+ page document focus on issues relating to the new electoral system and entrench the new 19 constituencies in law. The changes include the provision for more deputy supervisors of elections, electronic registration and for the supervisor to petition the court over candidates’ qualifications, and requires photos and symbols of candidates to appear on the ballot paper.

See draft bill on the CNS Library

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Category: 2017 General Elections, Elections, Politics

Comments (16)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Them two blowhards from East and North will now be registered as a party or what?
    Them doing their best to get alliances…..

  2. Anonymous says:

    Like the gangs on the street and in the schools, political parties like the power and control that parties give them; to hell with us, we are only a mains to their ends, viz: http://www.caribbean360.com/news/antigua-pm-fires-government-senator-not-supporting-legislation?utm_source=Caribbean360%20Newsletters&utm_campaign=feb4daa3a0-Vol_11_Issue_166_News9_14_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_350247989a-feb4daa3a0-37944362

  3. Anonymous says:

    Did they find the $1 billion dollars that’s missing from government yet?

  4. MM says:

    Redefine part politics? We need to get rid of part politricks! It’s more like “like-minded cronies”.

    Decrease the political salaries and THEN see who will run! You either love your country and its people enough to do it for half the pay or don’t do it at all!

  5. Anonymous says:

    You’re joking right?

    It does the oposite

    It allows real independent candidates to spend $10,000 more on campains than party candidates.

    What it does do is prevent certain groups from lying to the public and saying they are not a party.

    • Anonymous says:

      This system is rigged so that independents can never truly challenge to unseat one of the CDP/PPM parties and threaten to become Premier. The best that dissenting thinkers can hope for is an irrelevant back bench seat, or be arbitrarily assigned to a party paradigm by the obviously conflicted public service sourced elections supervisor.

      • Anonymous says:

        That’s not ‘rigged’. That’s the nature of a constitutional democracy. Further, if PPM get 5 seats, UDP get 5 seats and 9 independents get elected you could end up with an independent Premier and Cabinet. That it probably will not happen speaks more to the organisational and coattail capability of parties than to a ‘rigged’ system. Indeed, at 9udp & 9ppm with one independent you could end up with the independent being premier and leading a coalition government. (Poor sufferer.)

        • Anonymous says:

          This assumes that Independents will get lumped into one big like-minded coalition of also-rans. What is the logo for that?

    • Anonymous says:

      C4C were not a unified party with a group manifesto – as was explained going into last election and has been borne out through the unfolding reality of time since: they did not all share common opinions on all matters and toe a “party line”. All they had in common was vetting by C4C organizers as independent thinkers that were worthy of challenging the two party hegemony. 4 years later and the commoners still don’t get it. Everyone has to be pigeon-holed now with a pretty logo for those too dumb to research whether to cast their vote and for whom.

  6. Anonymous says:

    Clown show.

  7. Anonymous says:

    PPM trying to destroy all independents and force them to join the two dysfunctional parties with this piece of legislation

  8. Ah boy says:

    Alden being Alden that’s all this is! He is just playing “last lick” and using his office and power to campaign against C4C

  9. Anonymous says:

    Politics needs to be demoted to the trash heap it really is. Many millions of dollars leaked from the public purse to fund failure.
    Time for a major rethink.
    If we cannot find honest people, then we should drop the idea.
    They should all be expected to perform lie-detector tests.
    I could ask them a few testing questions as I am sure most of us could.
    Give us something to believe in or be quiet. No more lies, please.

  10. Anonymous says:

    How can we be surprised that the original omov idea has devolved into a system that creates significant new barriers for independent candidates that do not share a platform of cronyism with an existing kleptocrat huddle. If they don’t have a party, they will be assigned to one by the elections supervisor?!?

    • Anonymous says:

      No, you can still run as an independent. You just can’t run as an independent member of a ‘team’ or ‘alliance’. You’re either an independent, or your in a ‘party’. Its merely a question of clear definitions. There are no penguins (neither fish nor fowl).

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