LA date set for referendum bill

| 15/10/2019 | 12 Comments
Cayman News Service
The Cayman Islands Legislative Assembly

(CNS): Governor Martyn Roper has issued the official proclamation for the Legislative Assembly to meet on 28 October, when government is expected to present the draft referendum bill for debate during the session. The law for this historic vote on the cruise berthing project is expected to pass through the parliament without any problems. But there is likely to be a heated debate, as the opposition will be pressing government on the date, the lack of campaign spending rules and other controversies surrounding the vote.

The bill was published on 3 October, so this session comes at the earliest opportunity 21 days after the public consultation period set out in the Constitution. Once the legislation is passed, the Elections Office will be able to send out postal ballots and deal with mobile voting applications for Referendum Day, which is happening just six days before Christmas, on 19 December.

The Ministry of Education has confirmed that all public schools will close for the seasonal holidays on 18 December, as many district primary schools are used as polling stations.

Government is expected to present its 2020/21 budget in the next few weeks because that bill must be presented, debated, passed through Finance Committee and assented to before the end of the year. But it is not clear whether the legislation will be ready for this meeting.

Speaking to CNS recently about the parliamentary timetabling, North Side MLA Ezzard Miller said he was disappointed that, despite shifting to a two-year budget cycle, government is still leaving the presentation of the budgets until the last minute.

He said that it is more than likely that, yet again, the government will attempt to rush its spending plans through Finance Committee at the last minute, forcing members to sit until the early morning hours.

Miller said he believed this was by design in order to allow things that ministers don’t want the opposition or the public to scrutinize to get through the committee.

See the governor’s proclamation here


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Category: Politics

Comments (12)

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  1. Kurt Christian says:

    Vote No

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  2. Biba says:

    In an honest and open referendum for all voters, the Governor needs to intervene to ensure that the government:

    1. Chooses a referendum date that includes the entire electorate: from January 2020

    2. Chooses a neutral question for the referendum. The current question assumes the port is going ahead. Until the electorate votes, it is not.

    3. Makes sure that each MLA declares his or her personal and/or related business interests in the building of a new port

    It’s called democracy…

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  3. Anonymous says:

    keep spending….

  4. Anonymous says:

    Wait, so what exactly does this mean; “this session comes at the earliest opportunity 21 days after the public consultation period set out in the Constitution”
    What Public gets consulted?? Do we have a say on it??
    Can someone explain this?
    Genuine question here.

  5. Anonymous says:

    On what date can we expect enactment of the Standards in Public Life Law? It’s a Constitutional requirement under section 117. There is nothing more important than this. Roper? FCO? ACC? Anyone?

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    • Anonymous says:

      SIPL is a giant overreach and if enacted would discourage meaningful participation in the political process!

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      • Anonymous says:

        Declaring conflicts and business interests is a basic step towards good governance. All politicians and business people in the real world make some effort to comply so that they don’t look like complete crooks.

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      • Something is rotten in the state of Cayman says:

        Yes ‘giant overreach’ because god forbid people in positions of public office or public trust be transparent to the public about their interests

        You might as well just come out in favour of rampant corruption covered in a fine veneer of “nothing to see here, pinky promise”

        The only people against the SIPL law are the people who don’t want their unethical behavior brought into the light including elected members of government
        There is no reason why even if people had issues with the initial bill that it has taken as long as it has, the original law was passed in early 2014 with amendments being passed in May of 2016

        May of 2020 will be 4 years since the amendments were passed and the law is still NOT in force after nearing 6 years

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      • Anonymous says:

        A true and accurate disclosure of conflicts and business interests is not disqualifying, unless there is a layer of criminality that would be uncovered. Why is it overreaching to expose bad apples per section 117 of our Constitution? Pls explain (if you can).

  6. Anonymous says:

    Ezzard and disappointment are like two peas in a pod

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  7. 12oz Scam Pint says:

    Government for the government by the government. So much for democracy.

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  8. Anonymous says:

    exactly what are they doing the next day? 1 extra day out of over 1000 in office and you cant use it to meet??

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