McLean dismisses constitutional loss

| 23/09/2020 | 54 Comments
Cayman News Service
Opposition Leader Arden McLean addresses the LA, with Anthony Eden behind him

(CNS): Opposition Leader Arden McLean has said that Premier Alden McLaughlin should stop “crying” about the constitutional loss and get on with the people’s work. McLean took aim at both the premier and the governor on Wednesday, when he said the government should be focusing on the losses of the people, not a constitutional issue that would not have made any difference anyway.

McLean dismissed his own and other MLAs’ part in undermining the constitutional deal with the UK government that would have seen the removal of section 81, which allows the governor to pass laws directly for the Cayman Islands. Governor Martyn Roper confirmed last week that this section would be retained because he was forced to use it when legislators failed to pass what became the Civil Partnership lLaw last month.

He also dismissed the significance of the UK’s decision to hold onto the reserved powers for the governor, suggesteding the UK would do what it wanted in any event.

“It is clear that whether section 81 was removed or not, it would not matter to the UK Government as their recent actions on the Internal Market Bill relating to Brexit show that they have no regard for their international obligations,” McLean said in a press release. “It is self-evident that the UK will always do what is in their best interests and that this governor is here to do what is in the UK’s best interests.”

McLean said McLaughlin should learn from the governor and do what is in the best interests of the Caymanian people and the Cayman Islands. He questioned what the premier was doing about the loss of their quality of life, such as a high cost of living, the lost productivity from being stuck in traffic, the loss of health from the stressful environment, the lost school days for children and the lost opportunities for Caymanians, who he said were discriminated against in the workforce.

However, although McLean expressed concern about workplace discrimination against Caymanians, he has support the discrimination against the LGBT+ Caymanian community. He led the charge by the opposition to block the government’s bill to introduce lawful partnerships for same-sex couples, which, as well as allowing the discrimination against them, placed the Legislative Assembly on the wrong side of the law.

McLean went on to say, that he and the premier “work in the Legislative Assembly, not a day-care centre”, a point the voting public is likely to hope all 19 members recognise next May.


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  1. Anonymous says:

    Mr. Warren would be ashamed of you Arden. You can do no good for Cayman. That is obvious to all. Somewhere you lost your way or lost your mind, I don’t know which or whether it matters. The Arden I knew would not say a constitutional setback does not matter. There are indeed more pressing issues but no one believes you are the person to address them. The least you could have done was just comply with the law. Your position and that of your colleagues did lasting damage to Cayman. If you get into office – heaven forbid – the UK will not work with you like they worked with Alden. You are not wanted or needed – go.

  2. Anonymous says:

    When CUC ups your bill in January by 6% you can thank Arden for that approval. Oh and another 6% June 2021. Have fun with that, glad I got my solar panels and I don’t have archaic views about other humans.

  3. Anonymous says:

    I really wish this fool would shut the hell up. Do your fellow Caymanians a favor Arden and get on a plane and go somewhere anywhere!!!

  4. Anonymous says:

    arden & co…the reason why cayman can’t be trusted to run its own affairs

    • Anonymous says:

      There’s more than just Arden who can’t be trusted, especially the well known who have for many years feathered their own nests and , so far, got away with shameful behavior.
      You know who they are and what a danger they pose to Cayman’s future.

  5. Anonymous says:

    Aside from complaining about LGBT, where has this man been the past 3.5 years? I have not heard any positive solutions coming out of his mouth, no suggestions on how to make life better and now suddenly on the eve of elections he wakes up? He needs to slither back to his rock in EE and leave his seat in the LA for someone who will show up to work

  6. We's got to look impo'ent to be impotent says:

    Another one who’s calling the pot black whilst he and his brethren might have been tabling more impo’ent matters for this land but instead, blah, blah, blah… Stiff up your tie man and quit bickering like a 3yr old about sexual preference and the UK having to wipe your behind when you could not.

    XXXX

    Do us all a favour next time you feel the urge to whine, put a sock in it. And try and do something to earn your paycheck for a change. Just try!

  7. We need new blood says:

    Please, please, please: if this bunch of soldier crabs run again, let us agree to vote them out. Two terms should be the maximum allowed; at this point, the law of diminishing return applies to Mac, Eden, Arden, and a couple others. Go fish, plant cassava, mind your grandchildren – I don’t care, just don’t legislate anymore.

    • Anonymous says:

      I’m sorry, but MLAs don’t get voted out, or learn any lesson by not being returned the following season. The mechanism doesn’t work that way. He was voted in (like the rest of them), because East End voters believed he was THE BEST CHOICE among a very weak field. That problem hasn’t changed for any district. Voters need to press to amend the Elections Law and redefine the merit of who can be eligible, while also disqualifying high school dropouts, and ex-cons as draftsmen of our laws. MLAs shouldn’t be allowed to toggle their district based on the available opponents. MLAs need to take regular and more comprehensive soundings from their district constituents…and more…

  8. Anonymous says:

    He has spent months ‘crying’ about a constituitonal issue himself.

  9. Anonymous says:

    Perfect representative for the morally challenged Ignorants who can only think of themselves to survive.

  10. Anonymous says:

    As a younger man, I was a sculptor, a painter, and a musician. There was just one problem: I wasn’t very good. As a matter of fact, I was dreadful. I finally came to the frustrating conclusion that I had taste and style, but not talent. I knew my limitations.

    We all have our limitations. Fortunately, I discovered that taste and style were commodities that people desired.

    What I am saying is: Mr, McLean, know your limitations. You are a moron.

    So please Mr McLean, go and do something more suited to your intellect and achievements.

    • Anonymous says:

      What you are probably trying to say is he should be making rope.

      • Anonymous says:

        Rope making requires skill, diligence and pride in your work.

        The reward of rope making is a fine, well made rope, not a bloated salary (with an undeserved pension) for little more than bigotry, incompetence and failure.

        So no, not rope making.

    • Anonymous says:

      6.53pm How refreshing is your comment! Need more honest, humble(er) people like you around. Would like to see you in office but then again wouldn’t bcos might ruin you! Enjoy!

    • Anonymous says:

      What a great movie Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is!

  11. Anonymous says:

    I do hope hes going to take his own advice. What peoples business has his group undertaken or achieved these past almost 4 years?

  12. Anonymous says:

    Wait till he starts telling you his CUC stories. He is stuck in the dark ages.

    The bumbling Opposition strikes again.

  13. Anonymous says:

    He getting dismissed in May himself

  14. Anonymous says:

    Mr. Mclean is gone past his sell by date. He knows this. He is doing everything he can to hold onto power as he believes that he should be the next premier by default.

    What a waste….

    • Anonymous says:

      No one else is fighting for the rights of caymanians though. In a few years many of you are going to be praying for the likes of Arden and ezzard to still be around.

      • Anonymous says:

        I believe that Arden is correct in saying that the FCA / UK had no intention of removing Secrion 81. It was just a red herring to fool us again. They have been relentless for decades trying to dismantle our financial offshore sector and calling for more and more regulations to stifle our prosperity while their own Guernsey, Jersey , Channel Isles and City of London remain high flyers!! They do not give a rats behind about bringing hardship on us but we have always been survivors. When we were poverty stricken,, living without simple necessities they didn’t come to our rescue. I am now a senior citizen and I cannot remember the U.K. , doing anything except sending a commissioner who came, got driven through the islands once or twice a year dressed in his ” out of Africa” kaki suit/ white suit and plumed hat. Then came the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II when we received a few dozen royal cups, flags and pencils with a tinfoil crown holding an eraser in place on one end. We had fireworks and sang ” God Save the Queen” one evening to commemorate the occasion and went back home to burn mosquito coil to be able to get a little sleep beforre next morning.

        The aforementioned Commissioners now Governors were shuttled back and forth between the U.K.., and the Cayman Islands but as far as I can remember we the natives got no benefit from that exercise. We got nothing to uplift our lives but we plodded on. Caymanian fathers and brothers went to sea and by all accounts they were stellar workers and hired on ships plying the seas all over the world. Caymanian mothers and sisters worked very hard at home to raise the families, get children off to school and keeping the home fires burning. It wasn’t easy but it had to e done and we did it all without help from the FCA/United Kingdom. A vast number of our people left the island to attend universities and came back home with their education high on the prospects of helping their families and homeland. By that time expatriates were moving in and that caused a lot of our people who quickly became the second choice for many of the jobs that were available and that practice remains until the present time. Caymanians have always been the one having to be the one to give up our place at the table instead of being shoulder to shoulder with non- Caymanians so each one could reach one. Being overlooked by the U.K., from across the pond was something we were used to but when it happens right in front of your face is a hard pill to swallow.

        Some of us like to “talk bad” about our Caribbean neighbors but we need to realise that most Caribbean people are so much more intuned with what goes on in their countries that we are of ours ( yes I know we are a crown colony- no need to remind me.) I am merely speaking futuristicly. We need to get uncomfortable with being a yoyo for the U.K., start having the serious conversations to one day soon, before another decade’ be in charge of our destiny by God’s help.

        I know we will need to partner with many expatriates among us who have the welfare and well- being of Cayman and its people at the forefront, who are also Caymanians and who will strive shoulder to shoulder with us, who will sit at the table with us and who are willing to help us build a destiny together!!
        We have to have a vision and move together for the cause. In the meantime we need to have respect for those who have been and will be elected, respectfully let them know which we agree on and which issues we do not agree with and come together and have dialogue instead of “denigrating ” and dragging each other down. We also need leaders who will always speak up and stand up on our behalf and not side with anyone against us even if those leaders disagree with the choices taken. “Because we are all in this together” we need to grow up and stand up – no one is going to do it for us. We need to be treated as humans and not poppets!

        • Anonymous says:

          1:57 you deserve a Nobel Thatch Rope Peace Prize. I don’t mean that in a derogatory fashion but in context to these Beloved Islanfs, which your writing shows you care for dearly.

  15. Anonymous says:

    There is a true saying that empty vessels make the most noise.

    Arden McLean is living proof!

    • Anonymous says:

      You just stood there screaming
      Fearing no one was listening to you
      They say the empty can rattles the most
      The sound of your own voice must soothe you
      Hearing only what you want to hear
      And knowing only what you’ve heard
      You, you’re smothered in tragedy
      And you’re out to save the world

  16. Anonymous says:

    This is the most sensible thing Arden McLean has said as leader of the opposition

  17. David S. says:

    Arden McLean is right and interprets the law with excellence despite the absence of a constitutional or human rights lawyer by his side.

    The UK will always maintain section 81 in the constitution of all OTs giving governor’s reserved powers that execute the interest of the UK.This will end with independence.Untill such time, expect the best, but look for the worst from the UK.

    • Anonymous says:

      5.28 Please, please, PLEASE fight for Independence. Fed up listening to whining about the UK. The sooner we dump this pebble the better. Good luck when you are overrun by Jamaicans.

      • Anonymous says:

        But wait for 20 more years as that’s when I plan to leave because no one can retire here without millions in the bank.

      • Anonymous says:

        8.58 I’m confused by your comment.
        Big thumbs down for fighting for independence .
        Thumbs up for your second line, especially fear of being overrun by Jamaicans.

        • Anonymous says:

          10.58 I read that comment as the poster would be quite happy for Cayman to go independent. Then they can’t moan about the mother country doing them over! This place would be Tivoli Gardens version 2 in no time!

  18. Anonymous says:

    What an embarrassment to the islands. Ignorant, rude and uneducated . He just cannot see the damage he is doing , or maybe he can and doesn’t care. Let’s vote this fool out .

    • Anonymous says:

      True, and would that it were so easy. Alas, MLAs don’t get voted out, or that room would have been emptied months ago. They get voted in and stay there; attend occasionally over four years, while milking a personal retirement plan. The trick is not voting in a loser, because hopefully, someone better-suited and mentally-equipped is running in the district. Adroit is a reach. The selections are poor because of passive voters that don’t bother to amend the flawed and biased Elections Law. Once again, we’re mobilizing our awareness too late and already doomed to another four years of crooks and schemers.

    • Anonymous says:

      I agree wholeheartedly with your comment. Arden and the likes of him have done little to improve the lives of their constituents.

      Maybe, a reduction in MLAs’ salaries will keep the wanna get rich people out of the LA 2021.

      • Anonymous says:

        You do realize that the Opposition does not control governments resources and it is the elected Governments’ job to “improve your life” …. right? Opposition number 5 in total, there are 2 Independents and the other 12 are Government members, how do you propose 5 (7 if you are lucky) can tell 12 what to do ?

        • Jonathan Adam says:

          Exactly. This is a direct result of the inequitable constructs which Cayman is unjustly subjugated to as it pertains to the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy, which is made worse by a BOT status as a construct in which the interests of the Crown is written into constitutional law as to be above and beyond and to the exclusion of the interests and/or well being of the Cayman Islands, her people and it’s future.

          The result is a formula for widespread malfeasance, institutionalized corrupt, zero accountability, widespread dereliction of duty, a lack of any semblance of ‘good governance’, governmental maladministration, illegitimately derived power and influence for private private sector and/or ‘commercial’ interests to pervert, manipulate and desecrate not only democratic process but also decision making processes.

          The woefully inadequate, pitiful and worthless fallacy of pirates in fancy ties and charlatan pigs in Englishman’s wigs dictating what is falsely claimed to be democracy is a system which has proven itself to be a debilitating and decrepit, deceitful and malevolent whorehouse of diabolical intent and purpose.

          There needs to be a paradigm shift, and the list of those who are transgressors against the interests, the well being, the sustainability and the future of the Cayman Islands and her people is extensive and extends far beyond the slated walls of the LA and the tragic comedy of purposefully promulgated errors therein.

          • Anonymous says:

            The Westminster system is fine. Our problem is that the Elections Law is rigged to insulate the current rotation of participants and exclude any reasonable new-comers that might otherwise be willing to serve the public (for a change). Requiring MLAs to have a grandparent immediately disqualifies thousands of astute and capable Caymanians, many of whom have contributed to the prosperity and benefit of these islands for many decades. It’s a shame they aren’t allowed to actually serve their adopted homeland.

            • Jonathan Adam says:

              To 24/09/WTAF2020/10:24 am;
              My Dearest Sir, Mrs, Miss, Misses, Maam and/or Maddam, as you have chosen to remain hidden behind the cloak of anonymity which this forum provides, and thus regardless of your gender, I can say to you with a level of certainty and a confidence born of objective observation and chagrined experience that you are woefully wrong.

              The Westminster system, particularly as it pertains to our somewhat unique situation as a BOT and the implementation of said system in and of the Cayman Islands, is certainly not ‘fine’. It is not ‘fine’ nor is it acceptable by any conceivable stretch of the imagination unless one is of an overtly disingenuous and subversive intent and purpose as it pertains to the interests and/or well being of the Cayman Islands, her people and it’s future exclusively, first and foremost, and to the exclusion of any and all others.

              For your elucidation; “Westminster democracy is that system of government also known as responsible government and parliamentary government in which people do not directly elect their government but leave it to the elected legislature to install, supervise and remove the government”.

              Do you really accept as valid the concept of foxes administering the goings on of hen houses? Are you one who does not comprehend the fallibility of the human condition? Is it not obvious that for far too long we have allowed these things to continue? An implementation of real and lasting solutions requires an immediately consequential accountability by the power of the people, and a real participatory democracy which the Westminster system is diametrically opposed to. We need checks and balances which are not controlled by the very ones they are intended to regulate.

              These realities, which are but a few of many, elucidate the dire need for a paradigm shift which neither asks for nor pleads for, but unequivocally demands complete and utter transparency in any and all of these matters (except in some cases national security issues). These demands have to be set in such a way that dereliction of duty and/or any other acts of miscreant malfeasance, and the consequences of transgression, is correlatable to the position of power and influence. That is not what the Westminster system is designed to achieve and it is not what said system has been perverted to achieve.

              Cayman and Caymanians have to now begin to think and to act outside of the box as it pertains to the hinderances which the Westminster system places as a stumbling block in front of the viable and tenable concept of an efficient, equitable and workable participatory democracy and system of governance moving forward. It is these colonial concepts of a subjugated existence which denies one the human right of self determination to be exercised. It is that which purposefully disallows not only democracy but also good governmental administration.

              It is within the real collective responsibility which is both fostered and achieved via a real participatory democracy that the solutions lay. The ‘collective responsibility’ which is in the construct of Westminster parliamentary democracy and the goings on within ‘Cabinet’ is a fallacy and it allows for the very easy influences of corruption and self interested malfeasance to infiltrate a very few in number group of decision makers. That is the antithesis of democracy’s core value and efficacy as it pertains to a successful, sustainable, equitable, viable and workable system of governance and administration of any given place and/or people. Cayman’s population is of a number which actually allows the successful implementation of real democracy. Today’s reality is anything but that.

              As such, as the Westminster system by design of construct, seeks to disallow the electorate themselves from being the one and the only group who decides who is to be the Premier, therein be the issue. That in itself as one singular issue is indicative of a construct which is not only debilitating but also completely unacceptable.

              Does one need a history lesson regarding the goings on following the last election cycle as it pertains to the politrickial chicanery, self interested greed and lust for power induced horsetrading which came out of all of that secretive and miscreant backroom wheeling and dealing? Is one really so unwise and/or naive as to think that simply removing the perpetraitors and/or the self interested bad actors therein will solve the problem when it is the system itself which facilitates these completely and utterly undemocratic maneuvers and allows them to continuously take place?

              Methinks not. Changing the actors while leaving the playing field as skewed and the rules of play as undeniably undemocratic which they are will do nothing to solve the problems or address the core root issues and/or the cause and effect negative consequences my friend. Anyone who genuinely things otherwise needs a reality check. I have pointed to only one singular issue which needs to addressed and rectified forthwith. It is one of many.

              While I hold the famous quote by Sir Winston Churchill and his remarks regarding democracy, as it pertains to a comparison of all others systems of government, to be both valid and wise and the most viable of all other time tested options, there are burgeoning realities and destructive constructs here which cannot and should not be ignored, diminished and/or allowed to continue as the inequitable status quo which it has proven itself, many times over, to be.

              It is unfortunate, yet it is true, that these loyalties do not now align, if they ever really did, and that ‘good governance’ is a concept which has become nothing but a fallacy which is based upon a conceitedly disingenuous and deceptive agenda regardless of any narrative of hollow rhetoric and/or a dearth of justice and/or accountability which is furthered by a justice system which is not beholden to the interests of the very people they hold authority over.

              This is further compounded by the subversive, psuedo private sector interests hidden behind the veils of secrecy which the ‘City of London’ is responsible for, and have for decades already and continue to today wreak havoc not only via infiltration into the House of Parliament in Britain, but also the Cayman Islands in our collective entirety via the most vile incarnation of an internationally significant institutionalized corruption which is consuming this place and this people from the inside out. The results are like some internalized parasite of nightmarish conjecture yet still are as real as the sociological degradation which is glaringly evident today.

              Moreover, if it is to be left both unhindered and unmitigated, said construct promises to ultimately render my homeland unlivable for the vast majority of the population and at the expense of all and sundry except for a very undeserving few. I for one am not and will not be content to wallow around in an subjugated existence evidenced by a exponential growth of a welfare, nanny and police state wherein the economy itself is ruled over by crooked as a dog’s hind leg politrickians (regardless of whence they have come) and monopolistic charlatan private sector blackguards with highly intelligent yet diabolically derived propaganda machines.

              In order for one to serve one’s homeland, then one has to be loyal to said homeland above and beyond any other. Do you fit within those parameters, or does your real and genuine loyalties belong to some other? That is not a rhetorical question. It is a genuine question. These islands are my homeland, and regardless of my ancestry or even the land of my birth, my loyalty is to these three green rocks in the Caribbean Sea and that loyalty is to the purposefully necessary exclusion of any and all others and I say that with neither fear nor favour. Whilst I may, at this fleeting moment in history, be subjugated to an incomplete document which dictates that the well being and interests of some supposed ‘motherland’ are to be held above and beyond the interests and/or the well being of my own homeland, I am not beholden to these inequitable constructs nor constitution within the parameters of my own constitution as a Caymanian. There be the rock and the hard place. While I chose to abstain from voting for the constitution as we know it today, and I realize that it is the law of the land, I have zero qualms with identifying, acknowledging, addressing and seeking to rectify the myriad fallacies and disparities which the present day construct has unjustly and unwisely hobbled and inequitably subjugated my beloved homeland with, for and by.

              The population of multigenerational Caymanians, whose ancestors were of the original pioneer stock and who came to this land where there were no original inhabitants nor Native Peoples before them are not to be displaced or railroaded out of existence by the likes of those who act as bullies and conceited hypocritical bigots as they seek to vilify, deny and dehumanize the original Caymanians. This remains so regardless of the disparities with said ever diminishing and truly unrepresented portion of our collective population. It is the malfeasance which is promoted by the inequities of the Westminster system which have allowed charlatans to prostitute democratic process and encourage less learned and invested members of the electorate to sell their privilege of being able to vote for trinkets and hollow promises. These issues are systemic. They are furthered by the deceptive practices of private sector interests and their underhanded funding of political candidates in a system of quid pro quo malfeasance.

              We here are well aware of the specter within the question and the clear and present dangers regarding the issue of ‘belongership’. We have seen status sold to the highest bidder, regardless of their quality of character and/or the woefully bereft lack thereof. We have seen this while those of proven original pioneer Caymanian bloodline are unjustly passed over and ignored by the public sector powers that be. This just the same as we have seen it with good willed expatriates who have invested their lives here are passed over as well.

              We have already seen the diabolical manipulations at the decrepit and deceitful hands of those of our own ilk as they have used these issues of immigration and status to further their own political expediencies at the expense of all and sundry. They have used it to sow division as per the divide and conquer rule of the ignoble warrior. It is a common tactic used by those of Imperialist, Colonizer and Conquest mindsets. Said mentality has infiltrated the mindset of the miscreants of our own ilk. It is symptomatic of a contagious disease of the mind which Colonialism is the definitive vector of. It is the enemy of the solidarity necessary for Cayman and it’s people not only to survive, but also to thrive.

              We have seen many who are now here who gleefully point out the corruption in and of the Cayman Islands, yet still they themselves have aligned themselves with, are the promulgators of and the benefactors of that most heinously detrimental presence here which is an institutionalized corruption. That this is so easily and conceitedly and disingenuously and conveniently absent from their aspersions cast at others and is ignored as the reality which it is has proven itself to be indicative of the quality of character, and/or the lack thereof, of far too many who now call Cayman their home.

              One does not become a member of a family, or a community, or a country, or a place and/or a people if one acts in the furtherance of these disparities and these inequities and these injustices. We are already burdened with far too many of them of our own ilk. It is the now systemic disparities and the core root issues of a now institutionalized corruption and the cause and effect factors therein which need to be addressed and/or rectified before anything else, including you or anyone else’s right to run for office and gain the privilege of elected leadership.

              It has become apparent that the question of independence has to be closely examined as an option, although it is a gauntlet fraught with many dangers and pitfalls both seen and unseen, may well have to be taken as the only way forward, with full cognizance and recognition of our own internal faults and home grown bad actors, if the interests and the well being of the Cayman Islands is ever to be given the place of paramount importance and consideration which it, and us, have long deserved.

              We have not been well served, nor have we been well represented, by the inequitable and disparate constructs which govern our present day existence upon these three green rocks in the Caribbean Sea and we the people who have for many generations called it our home and loved it as such.

            • Anonymous says:

              So sorry you don’t like that, here is hoping it will never change. We are pushed aside as it is.

      • Anonymous says:

        They pick their salaries…”big raises…all in favour? The AYEs have it”.

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