Premier: PPM priority is power not principle
(CNS): Premier Wayne Panton has said the opposition was looking for power and was not really concerned about principles over the last few weeks since the former speaker was embroiled in a scandal and the premier asked him to resign. Panton said Wednesday that if the Progressives’ priority had really been about the need to remove the speaker that would have been the first motion they filed, but instead they sought a no-confidence vote in the government, believing wrongly that they could bring PACT down.
“They demonstrated that their priority was about power and not about principle,” he said during a live appearance on the social media show, CMR. “The first motion that they filed had nothing to do with the removal of the speaker, nothing to do with the vote of no confidence in the speaker that they have been taking a stand on and saying this is the reason why we are not coming to parliament. It was an attempt to bring down the government.”
The opposition had filed the no-confidence motion against the speaker, which was refused by the deputy speaker at the last minute after the government had pushed back the meeting date by two days. Panton said that, given the subject of the first motion, it was really all about an attempt to put power above principle.
The premier said if the Progressives’ priority was to deal with the speaker, it would have been their first motion, not their last. He said the opposition had “layered hypocrisy upon hypocrisy upon hypocrisy layered with deceit”, then stood on top of it and claimed it as the moral high ground.
Since Bush agreed to Panton’s behind-the-scenes persuasion to step down without a notice period, the opposition has taken credit for the resignation U-turn.
“I have no doubt that the combined pressure brought by my and MP Barbara Conolly’s motion on a lack of confidence in the Speaker, together with the Opposition’s boycott of Parliament and insistence that the Speaker step down immediately,played a key role in Mr Bush being forced out of the Speaker’s chair,” the PPM leader Roy McTaggart said in a brief statement to the press following the news Bush was leaving the chair.
Despite their differences, Panton said he believed the country needs an effective but constructive opposition. However, it seems likely that over the coming months Panton will go into battle with them again.
The issues which fuelled their no-confidence vote in PACT have not necessarily been addressed and could be further flamed as Bush, who according to Sir Alden “dislikes the premier very much”, takes to the government back-bench.
The opposition’s decision to file a motion to bring down the government was brought on by what they believed was the significant level of dissatisfaction with Panton’s leadership by many PACT MPs.
While the government was shored up by a successful confidence vote by Dwayne Seymour, a matter of weeks before he stood up in parliament on Wednesday to offer his support to PACT, he had apparently been speaking with his old PPM colleagues about how terrible the government was.
Some differences of opinion between some MPs have been simmering noticeably, while the lack of support by several ministers for Panton’s sustainability policies has been apparent. Planning Minister Jay Ebanks’ clear opposition to that policy was laid bare in the legal wrangle between two government entities, the National Conservation Council and the Central Planning Authority, over the Boggy Sand planning issue, which is now heading to the Court of Appeal.
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Category: Politics
oh bobo, you don’t have to be a ppm fan to see how bad our current government is doing.
Sir Alden never did like Premier Panton, he took advantage of his generosity and Premier Panton wanting good governance for the Cayman Islands.
Sir Alden fooled Premier Panton for a while but when Premier Panton could no longer go along with Sir Alden’s and PPM’s destructive Caymanian policies and favourded the mega rich, Sir Alden went to war to destroy him.
Sir Alden and other PPM leaders have as much or more obligations to deliver on mega development, including the East West Arterial Road which will destroy our economically important Central Wetlands area.
Yes, some PPM sympathizers in PACT also have no respect for the natural environment.
But they are bucking against what is best for the Cayman Islands in their attempts to satisfy those that paid their political bill$$.
The public needs to be very active and vocal to save our economically important natural environment.
Boy you can read some crap !!
Or, if you are a PACT supporter, boy you can have some crap read to you.
Sadly PACT is doing nothing to correct a decade of PPM abuse…..so the choice is having our future destroyed through PPM government theft or PACT government inactivity.
11:19 am. We don’t have a choice. It’s our fate. Weak and/or power hungry politicians and certain Government boards have worked together to destroy our beautiful island. For lack of vision the people perish.
Party after party, minister after minister, government after government, the same thing remains. The majority of us regular people are becoming worse off than a very specific set of people.
When do we realise governments aren’t set up for us. They need us, chew us up and spit us out then beg us for support a couple years after.
No where else in the world is any better but I’m quite defeated thinking about my prospects in this life. PACT, UDP, PPM… does the acronym really matter when the same groups with the financial power and influence are in the rooms making the same deals and on the same board?
Maybe we as individuals needs to start having a discussion about what exactly we want government to do and be.. then discuss how we achieve that and how to prevent government from becoming what it is now around the world, the very same thing Panton is accusing the other side of, a pathway to achieve power.
Let me paint a picture for you.
Wayne made his intentions clear when he decided to get in to bed with Sandra.
And Mac
Now that would be an awful sight😂
The real problem is the voters from West Bay West.
You play the cards you are dealt, you do what you got to do to form a Government for the greater good (this includes placing Bush as speaker so that he can’t vote). To now chastise the Premier for following through with ensuring that no one is above the code of conduct does not make sense!
All that said, both parties are not performing well right now, but that’s the problem with democracy, you have to form a government with the cards you are dealt.
In fairness, McKeeva barely retained his MP seat, narrowly edging out Mario by 27 WBW voters. Close to half the district effectively voted for “anyone else”. There were some close calls in the PPM roster too. If voters could petition to change the Elections Law to ban felons and disqualify those with criminal charges, the landscape would improve dramatically. Cleaning up the caliber might even coax some retired idea leaders into a second chapter in public service, without the self-dealing motive.
Wasn’t it Sir Alden who gifted us with the single member Constituencies? Thank was the end of hope for us. And for that he becomes a Sir.
First things first – there are NO POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE CAYMAN ISLANDS!
PACT has never said that they are a politial party.
To call them political parties is giving credit where credit is not due, the PPM, UDP and PNA have never been compliant with the worldwide standard of a political party.
All that we have ever had are groups of people who give themselves a name.
Honestly, I wish Premier Panton would stop acting like a child and simply get things done!
Everything about this Govt is a waste of time. It’s funny how some people were calling for PPM members to have their salaries deducted for boycotting the House but forget to notice or mention that the Govt has only met in the House twice for the year. They have literally done nothing for 18 months and still collect their salaries.
Premier Panton is NOT the man for the job.
There is nothing being done by this Govt other than emotional jerking headlines. And what little has been done has only been done AFTER a PPM press release calling for the Govt to do something – think about it!
I have yet to hear this Govt, address the enormous cost of living crisis we are feeling. NOT A PEEP. But this is the “Peoples” govt?
9:23 am Well said !!
Wayne is a waste of a whole lot of space.
‘He said the opposition had “layered hypocrisy upon hypocrisy upon hypocrisy layered with deceit”,
That’s a lot of hypocrisies Mr Premier and it’d be a whole pile more once your share were added along with a deceit 🙄
Said the Premier who left the PPM due to Mac’s activities but then chose to have a govt with, to later ask him to resign but then still keep him in his govt.
Wayne go take several seats hippo-crit
PACT continuously shows how incompetent, gutless and spineless they are. Before they take this country to the brink of no return, please call an early election or step aside. Enough is enough.
take your head out of your @ss
Mr. Premier, you were are about power and not principle.
You remember that you left the Progressives and called Alden unethical for having Bush as speaker? What did you turn around and do? You put him right back in the same position just to get to be Premier.
A case of the pot calling the kettle black.
Careful what you wish for sir. You may just get it.
And it’s so funny how his media mouthpiece and supporters don’t call him or his Govt out on this. It’s ok and acceptable for them.
Sandy getting paid. CUC making big demands. Light haffi stay on.
It’s really not funny considering who his megaphone and those who tune in to listen. They are all like the leader- noise makers with no substance. You think they even understand the horrible situation they are festering? It’s just blah,blah,blah. We are the least informed electorate in the free world.
Someone please erect a Big Top over the centre of George Town post haste.
oh my the PPM supporters are out in full force on this one, and salty as hell too!🤣🤣🤣 tsk! tsk!
Wayne is so right. So many have us as seen through the veil.
Mr. Premier stop the bickering and try to help your Caymanians. We struggling man! CUC alone is sending me bankrupt! We can’t afford our bills, can’t afford to eat, traffic morning and night, more of our money building more roads that ain’t going nowhere or helping the traffic or environment.
King Charles 111, help us. I vote a no confidence of all of these two political party!!!
You can’t vote for people who won’t or are unable to run. Change the system and get some new blood in the pool – it’s the only way out of this mess.
Even though things are not going well in Cayman right now I cant seem to find any other place better.
Sorry but he cannot understand nor empathize with you. He has never had to struggle a day in his life!
Wayne, please step down, your rabble of MLAs and you were a poor pick for the country.
Wayne DO NOT step down.
If you do, Saunders Kenny Jay Mac and Seymour will take over, then God help us.
Panton said Wednesday that if the Progressives’ priority had really been about the need to remove the speaker that would have been the first motion they filed, but instead they sought a no-confidence vote in the government
I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, but by filing the motion of no-confidence in the government first, the Speaker would NOT have been able to vote in support of the government. Then once PPM had toppled PACT they would also have the votes necessary to remove Mac.
I don’t have a dog in this fight, but if Wayne wants to talk about hypocrisy and deceit then he needs to explain how the motion by Jon Jon got placed on the order paper ahead of the one by Roy.
Exactly! He doesnt understand logic that is why hie almost lost his throne. Next time he won’t be so lucky. Wait until the PACK come back at him.
standing orders give precedence to Govt motions over opposition motions, regardless of who filed first.
The motions were the same thing. Anyone who thinks there is a difference between “yes, it is bad” and “no, it is not good” must be an imbecile.
Actually, that is not true, they are taken in the order in which they are submitted unless someone interferes as is the case here.
The government was stupid and unnecessary. All the PACK and their brainchild had to do was to vote against the no-confidence motion from the opposition to make their point. They fool Wayne again. They cobbled up this stupid motion to make him think that they are with him. Watch and see if they won’t use it to force him to agree with their nilly-willy- silly demands and get their way. In the maintime he is being the Premier, at least in his head he thinks he is.
#aretheysupportedwayne
Didn’t think so.
Dear Wayne, the opposition SHOULD take credit for it. You only acted when you were pressured by 75% of voters. You thought you could save your last shred of dignity? Fat chance for that. Mac will have your job in short order old chap. Anyone listen to his words lately (e.g. in his throne speech Friday) His political career isn’t over by a longshot and business lining up behind him. He has the support of at least 6 PACT and will recruit the others in short order.
Oh please don’t prophecy that. Don’t encourage him .
which businesses? developers?
Oh dear, he finally located his tongue. I thought the cat had it for supper long ago
@CNS, out of curiosity where/when did Alden say “Bush dislikes the premier very much”? Just wanna see for myself, thx!
CNS: We first included the quote in this CNS story. I’m sure you can find the press briefing on the Progressives’ YouTube channel or FB page.
Two hypocrites do not make a principled person. Wayne, you won the election over condemning Bush. You have now stayed in power by saying he is not so bad. He is just a pawn, albeit a powerful one, in your games – all of you!
Unfortunately I and many others feel the PACT government will continue to operate disfunctionak especially with McKeeva now on the bench to run up his stupid mouth.
Jay has already proven to be just like his purported mentor McKeeva by challenging the Premier’s portfolio’s position so his ignorance is on full display.
Funny how John John spoke about the new MP’s having gained experience needed and are doing a good job when clearly their actions begto differ.
I have NO CONFIDENCE that PACT will operate as a cohesive government based on their actions.
As the saying goes “a leopard never changes its spots”.
3.42.. DumbJon actually credited his own talents and experience for guiding the new members… He really believes that about himself.
He only says whatever Catron tells him to say.
Dear Premier Pot, let me reintroduce you to Kettle, your old friend.
So says this guy.
https://caymannewsservice.com/2020/03/panton-finally-quits-ppm/
Is she Wayne? Is she?
PPM is horrible but can you set your bar a little higher than being better than pond slime? To start with how about getting “Ah please just give us a chance” Saunders to enforce immigration laws?
Saunders na goin’ henforce himmigration law dem.
That would damage his Jamaican voter base.
No administration is perfect and this one is no exception. I suggest we all get involved at district level, where our aptitudes and skillsets can benefit our fellow man (be the change we want to see)
Sad times
This squabbling is getting embarrassing already. Fix the education system, fix the dump, work on getting better cost of living and appeal to tourism properly. Get your heads out of each other’s backsides and run a country
I am sorry but reading those two words (Sir Alden) made me giggle.
Envy is one of the deadliest sins- give us your credentials and when the king swings by we will ask him to give you your knighthood. Sir Alden deserves it. – get used to it.
5:45 Tell him/her where to make that, umm, Donation to a british charity.
That’s a bit assumption 5:45, let’s keep in mind a Knighthood is a title given by a collective with the opinion of a persons achievements or service to their country. If 3:06 maybe finds it amusingly contradictive that ‘Sir Alden’ decided to use Govt funds to lobby against the people in an effort to push through a cruise pier when they didn’t want it, that is his/hers opinion.
Most PPM’ers memories are so short or they simply choose to forget. Never ceases to amaze me..That first batch of Kool aid was certainly effective.