Mac sets out his speaker’s stall

| 31/05/2017 | 48 Comments

(CNS): As he was sworn in as speaker of the Legislative Assembly Wednesday, McKeeva Bush, the leader of the CDP, signaled that he is likely to be a less conventional supervisor of the parliament than Cayman has been accustomed to. Bush told the other 18 members of the LA that the role of speaker could be “political without being partisan” and, warning that he would not tolerate efforts to stall or impeded government progress, he also made a commitment to protect the minority opposition.

Thanking the members for putting their “trust and confidence” in him, Bush recalled how the speaker’s post, once held by the governor, was transferred into the hands of Cayman’s parliamentarians after a motion he moved successfully in the 1980’s, which, he said, even got the backing of the “worst of all conservatives”, Truman Bodden.

Explaining why he chose to support Alden McLaughlin as premier after “difficult” negotiations, Bush made it clear that he was supporting this Government of National Unity after asking for certain things, which McLaughlin had committed to deliver and given assurance that the government would address a number of the people’s concerns. Bush asked his supporters and those of the Independents to support the government.

In his new role as speaker, Bush told the members that there was no time for any of them to play the politics of one-upmanship. He said that it was time to “work harder” and that he would “not tolerate hold-ups and wasting time”.

He told the members that he had found it “a bit lonely” in the speaker’s office during his first visit, but appeared keen to get on with the job. He said he saw his role as interpreting the regulations and rules of parliament and being judge over the fundamental principles of the parliament.

“My approach will be realistic and pragmatic,” he said, adding that his new position would not change his “persona”, and made it clear that he is very unlikely to be reticent in his role as referee. He said that the election results had delivered a message that it cannot be the “same old, same old”, but he was confident that the premier wanted to move forward and get the job done.

Despite his new-found support for his former nemesis, Bush implied that he will be holding McLaughlin to account on the deal struck between the two party leaders and the independent members of government, which has not yet been made public.

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Category: 2017 General Elections, Elections, Politics

Comments (48)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Might Justice Malcolm Swift have been a better and more competent choice than McKeeva Bush? #bananarepublic

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  2. Anonymous says:

    Let’s count the days for how long it will be before Mr. Bush brings dishonour and disrespect to the honourable office of The Speaker of the House.

    A man with absolutely no integrity, honour or education will not take long before his insecurities surface to grandstand and be the centre of attention in his new roll in the Government of the country.

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  3. Anonymous says:

    Mac

    You’ve got that wig on the wrong way round.

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  4. Anonymous says:

    As someone who is still relatively new to the hilarious world of cayman politics can I ask the role of the speaker ? As far as I’m aware in most parliaments the speaker is a partisan role whose job it is to bring unruly politicians in to line and ensure everyone has the chance to be heard on issues without it descending into a farcical shouting match . Having heard a recent interview on rooster with Mr bush conducted by woody decosta
    , who let’s be honest is not exactly Jeremy paxman in his style of interview , where he seemed to take offence with a line of questioning and went off on a tirade , admonished the host and ended up sulking in a manner that my three yea old would of described as childish . There is a saying in the U.K ‘ he’s a poacher turned gamekeeper ‘ .

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  5. Anonymous says:

    When will the public know what the “deal” is between The Speaker and the Premier – or will we EVER know?

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  6. Sharkey says:

    I think that other Caymanians should look and study how Mr Bush has carried himself through life in a political career all these many years, without having a education, and don’t know how to put a complete sentence together as some said.

    I think that we all can learn alot from this man if we started studying him rather than hating him.

    There are people in the Cayman islands that we should be looking at as Leaders,and teachers, we can learn a lot from them to better our lives.

    Stop looking at only one part of one’s life , and look at the other parts then you would get the full picture.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Like his disregard for laws or decency side?

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    • Anonymous says:

      Seriously? You’re promoting being uneducated and scandal-ridden as an appealing way of life??? No thanks!

      He’s run a bank into the ground, gambled extensively on the country’s dime, thrown temper tantrums in parliament that rival a hungry and overtired toddler……what exactly am I supposed to be learning from him?

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  7. Anonymous says:

    He can barely string a full sentence together without using some backyardy colloquialism. He is equivalent to a Hillbilly from the trailer park. Meaning he left the ‘hills’ of WB and moved up to the trailer park.

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    • Anonymous says:

      He’s Caymanian!

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      • Anonymous says:

        As am I. 5th generation. Being Caymanian, does not preclude us from speaking appropriately.

        Slang/colloquialisms are perfectly acceptable in a social setting but a person speaking in Parliament should not use them there. I’m NOT implying we change our accent (ever!) but use grammatically correct language in professional settings.

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  8. Anonymous says:

    This is exactly what is wrong with Cayman. Crabs in a barrel. We are unforgiving, hateful, jealous, one track minded, selfish, and cannot see anything good in people we dont like. Why dont we like them? We dont really have a good reason except that they speak with a Caymanian accent and sometimes use poor grammar when speaking to Caymanian people who also do not always use correct grammar. As a Caymanian, I love our accent, our broken English and the fact that we can switch if we so choose. While I did not vote for either of the two – Bush or Alden to be in Parliament – I am prepared to give them both a chance and hope that they keep their word and work together for the good of all or us. I expect the back bench to not only bark for the sake of it but that they will be constructive in their criticism of Government, holding them accountable to provide for the needs of all Caymanians from all districts. If we start out being negative and tearing down our leaders, we deserve every downfall that comes upon our islands. Our jobs as citizens is to support, hold accountable and uplift. If we berate our own, whey then do we get pissed off when the foreigners berate us? So shut if you you have nothing good to say and let us all get to work!

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    • Sharkey says:

      I completely agree with Anonymous 7:40am, and wish that there was more that thinks like him/her.
      But to the fact that Mr Bush can’t put a complete sentence together, that should be the least of his worries, obviously he knows how to do other things that are more important to him and Country why he has served in Government this long.

      Give Mr Bush a break at being the Speaker of House and be more like Anonymous 7:40am.

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      • Anonymous says:

        You got one bit right “he knows how to do other things that are more important to him”

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  9. Anonymous says:

    From reading the news over the past 4 years, we are made aware of two things with regards to lawsuits.
    We know that Mr. Bush has a lawsuit against the Government or former Governor, for defamation of character and libel that include damages.
    We also know that the Hon Premier has a lawsuit against Hon Speaker Mr. Bush for defamation of character and libel that include damages.

    Will these two lawsuits now be settled out of court allowing Mr. Bush to be paid out of taxpayers money and will this money in any way assist him in settling out of court with the Premier?

    The Independents had a right to question Mr Bush about these lawsuits, during negotiations, as it seems that the only people paying for them may be the taxpayers.

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  10. Anonymous says:

    Notice how McKeeva is already rewriting history? He claimed to be the instigator of the creation of the speaker, when in fact every governor from Tom Russell on tried to persuade the members of the L.A. to do it. Finally Governor Scott managed to get enough MLAs to agree to make the change in 1990. All McKeeva did was move the motion.
    Certainly nothing to do with the U.K wanting to hang on to vestiges of colonial administration.

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  11. Anonymous says:

    As speaker at least he won’t be able to travel the world continuously. Where does the speaker get his budget from? Wonder if they file audited accounts?

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  12. Way says:

    Can somebody tell me how much the Premier and Speaker of the House makes???

    $

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    • Proud Caymanian says:

      I beleive premier makes 165k pa and speaker 175k.
      I’m probably off a bit but the speaker makes more,and if memory serves me correctly both have a more they expense account.

      I welcome any corrections.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Is that because the Premier has better opportunities than the Speaker.

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      • Anonymous says:

        I believe Bush will get his MLA Salary and the Speakers salary at the same time, in addition to his Pension which is also a sizable amount. He will likely be taking home more than CI$30,000 per month

        The Lawsuit against govt when settled could be millions.

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      • Hancock says:

        Does the Speaker get a Government credit card? Just wonderin.

    • Anonymous says:

      Too much.
      All these jobs should be unpaid.

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      • Anonymous says:

        That makes no sense….if they were unpaid then no-one would want them. And if the above quotes are accurate being $165k for premier and $175k for speaker they aren’t very competitive. I make more than that easily in the private sector and I am part of a department not in charge of running a country.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Then you will only have rich people doing them.

  13. Rp says:

    Shouldn’t the speaker of the house be required to speak using proper grammar?

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    • Anonymous says:

      He never finished school.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Yet has held a public office for 32 years and learned on the job. However, the gov’t officials don’t fight for the same opportunities for other Caymanians who have not been fortunate to have the chance to go to college.

        There should be provisions for Caymanians that show potential, mental capacity, dedication and hard work to get on the job experience. Yet all positions these days from Secretary to CEO requires a degree. Yes some jobs this has to be an essential but there are some that should allow one to learn on the job. Many recruitment agencies actually do this already for the expats they place as I’ve seen many placed with my company and have to learn the ropes like everyone else. Then over time as they now have the experience, when the job is advertised and calls for experience, they now have the edge over Caymanians that apply.

        Long story short recruitment agencies need to be regulated with a aim to stop them from skirting the system and laughing in the face of our laws.

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      • Anonymous says:

        No he probably realized that he had to get his foot in the door before an expat had the chance to apply for his job

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    • frangipani says:

      Everyone should be speaking proper grammar

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    • Anonymous says:

      Rp for the most part he did; but on occasion he used local dialect. Nothing wrong with that. I would certainly have been offended had he started using a London accent or dialect.

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  14. Anonymous says:

    I think I see a coup coming

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  15. Anonymous says:

    I’m fine with this new Government as it stands, but am a little perturbed by this secret deal between Alden and Mac. Why aren’t we privy to what was agreed between them? Come on guys!

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    • Anonymous says:

      Secrecy is the MO of both of these whimps. The NRA Agreement & China port deal are 2 of Mac’s more memorable secrets and Alden has the Ritch Report,the KPMG financial model report for port, the dump deal, port deal and only God knows how many more deals (LPB perhaps?) that we don’t know about. That’s why he HAD to get back in, sacrificing Marco who actually earned his keep, in the process. Cayman can do better than these 2 rogues. It’s an embarrassment to have to refer to them as our representatives.

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  16. Anonymous says:

    Let the farce begin.

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  17. Anonymous says:

    Has anybody added up his earnings now, presumably he can now afford to use his personal credit card for “games of chance”.

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  18. Hold The Bells, Nudge On Lemons says:

    Has he asked for a new credit card yet?

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  19. Anonymous says:

    Mac if you plan on acting as Speaker anything like the way you would occasionally act towards previous Speakers you will not have the job for long.

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  20. Anonymous says:

    Shame about the not changing persona bit. Says a lot.

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