McTaggart: Parliamentary code is almost useless
(CNS): The Parliamentary Code of Conduct drawn up by the government and signed by all of its members has been rejected by the opposition and described as “almost useless” by PPM Leader Roy McTaggart. Premier Wayne Panton announced in his New Year message that the long-awaited code for MPs had been finalised, signed by PACT members and passed on to the opposition. But the PPM members have refused to sign the document as McTaggart said it falls far short of what is needed in both substance and process.
The code sets out the standards to which all MPs agree to hold themselves and is meant to guide them in the discharge of their obligations to the parliament, their constituents and the public. It outlines what is expected of MPs while they hold office and the rules they are expected to observe, such as conduct during sessions of parliament, receiving gifts and official travel arrangements.
“The Parliamentary Code of Conduct outlines the minimum ethical standards of behaviour that Caymanians can expect from their MPs,” Panton said. “This is an important milestone in our democratic process, and I am proud that all government members have demonstrated their commitment to the code and to abiding by the Nolan Principles, central to the Standards of Public Life”.
Panton said the “preferred approach” is for all MPs to sign the code and it will then be tabled in parliament by way of a motion to be voted on. “Leaders must hold themselves to the highest standards of ethics and accountability. It is essential for good governance, strong institutions, and more importantly for the stability and prosperity of these Cayman Islands,” the premier added.
But the opposition has complained that the concerns they raised about the code several months ago have not been addressed and the government has presented them with a document that fails to address key elements and itself violates the principles of good governance. McTaggart has written to Panton explaining why the opposition has declined to sign it and outlining what they see as the failings in the proposed document.
“There are significant failures of substance which mean that the proposed code would be ineffective and inappropriate,” McTaggart wrote. “It fails the basic test that such a code should both ensure that parliamentarians are properly held to account for their conduct and also guarantee an impartial process through which that accountability should be achieved.”
The Progressive party has said that its members support a code of conduct but have told the government that they will not support one that does not stand up to serious scrutiny, is ineffective and does not include an independent body to investigate and make a determination of any potential breaches.
McTaggart said that a commitment by the premier to meet with the opposition to discuss the concerns had not been met and the Council of Parliament Management Commission had not met since March. He noted that the Constitutional Commission as well as the opposition had provided input but those recommendations have not been included.
Criticising the fact that the code is not binding on future parliaments, he said it should formally be adopted by a resolution of parliament. As he listed his concerns, he also implied that the premier had struggled to get a more ambitious code through his caucus.
“The premier needs to go back to the drawing board,” McTaggart said, adding that he had urged Panton to “utilise the Constitution Commission’s guidance on what a Code of Conduct for Parliament should contain and consider using a body such as the Commission for Standards in Public Life as the independent investigator. Also, we could consider the UK House of Commons Code of Conduct as a good guide.”
The opposition leader added that the premier should work with the speaker to arrange for the council to meet and consider the options for an effective code, and then have it debated and approved by parliament.
As of press time, the premier’s office had not responded to the opposition’s criticisms.
But despite the complaints and potential shortcomings of the code, the document makes it clear that the obligations apply to the private life of MPs as well as their official role and that they should behave with probity and integrity at all times. Any conflict an MP faces between personal and public interest should always be resolved in the public interest and MPs cannot act as paid advocates in parliament or accept bribes or gifts.
Should any member breach the code, a disciplinary committee will be established with the premier, speaker and opposition leader nominating the three members. Following that committee’s investigation, its findings will be presented to parliament as a whole, which will decide on the sanction if necessary.
See the code and McTaggart’s letter in the CNS Library.
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Category: Politics
“Parliamentary code is almost useless”
It is consistent: a useless code for a useless parliament.
By Jove, Anonymous 11:22 a.m. I think you’ve found the problem! Now tell us how to get intelligent, honest representation.
Nahhhh….. It ain’t gonna happen in the Cayman Islands!
“Honest Representation” will never come about unless some honest leaders can be found…….. and there doesn’t seem to be any here.
Hey! How is England fixed for honest leaders? We sure need someone to get rid of the hangers-on in the Cayman Islands!
I cringe whenever I read ‘highest standards’ sounds good but in reality unless specifically defined, it is way too subjective, but then again lawyers love ambiguity.
It may not necessarily be ‘the code that’s useless’ Mr McTaggart, but more those that have signed it and potentially in line to so.
All you government officials should be ashamed of yourselves. The government is a complete joke. The corruption and incompetence is so apparent its disgusting. I want better for you Cayman. I love this country and see so much potential, they just keep screwing it up. Education, Roads, CBC etc all poor. Sad.
Yeah, but the bad part is where the parliamentarians are helping themselves instead of helping the country and it’s people. How many elected members have become millionaires since being elected?????
If Roy had any sense, he would have brought his own code of conduct on behalf of the PPM…but he would rather sit back and criticise…or is it that the thought of a code of conduct completely scares the crap out of the PPM?
Any thoughts Alden??
The latter scares them all regardless of party, that’s why they all watered it down so much to the point where its (like most politicians) not fit for purpose.
Whilst I think PACT is nowhere near what we should expect to represent The Cayman Islands, it’s very rich indeed to hear complaints from “The Progressives” when they had over a decade to bring about anything like a code of conduct. And did zilch!
They didn’t even oust the Speaker upon (last) criminal conviction.
Exactly
Perhaps UDPact should introduce guidelines to expel their relatives and political appointees from statutory authority boards.
Recent revelations of armor plated board member virtually calling the shots at the Port authority, should be investigated.
It’s public money, and the member should be held accountable.
So let me get this right; an MP runs his car up a CUC pole late at night, calls the Premier who attends the scene and astonishingly the MP isn’t even breathalysed. Not so much as a comment. Nothing to see here. I mean come on if that doesn’t raise a great big red flag with corruption and perverting the course of justice written large then what the hell does? Now they’re telling us about their code of conduct that they’re all abiding by. Seriously. The contempt these people hold us in is astonishing.
Which entity (if any) is responsible to call for an Inquiry into this incident? Can the RCIPS be called upon to explain on what basis/criteria the MP was exempt from being breathalyzed? This is necessary so that any of the motoring public can benefit from the same basis/criteria in the future. The public is owed an explanation.
Under the new Code of Conduct Jon Jon will have to call the police, but when they arrive he is allowed to say “Officer, you didn’t see nuttin”.
No doubt the officer will be distracted by the full moon and a donkey on the road.
The entity would be the Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) however it was this PACT administration who voted against enhancing the powers of the ACC to investigate. I’ve never heard of a government administration voting against law and order. And the MP who spoke the strongest against it just so happens to be the MP under the most scrutiny by the ACC (and no it’s not the former Speaker).
Completely agree. But to be fair they watered down this code to the point of being useless long before the current administration came in. There are so many transgressions with every administration over decades it has become the norm for them because the people were complacent and never spoke up.
I think Wayne and Andre have integrity and good intentions, but they’re swimming in a circle of sharks. Thankfully times have changed and the voting public are wisening up. We need a few more good uns like them.
The public is wisening up to the politrix and political favoritism of Wayne and Andre, as well as Mac and Saunders.
Which is why the Elections Law needs to be changed.
#younotseenuttin
I would LOVE to see what is written in the cops notebooks for that one. FOI should sort reveal that. I bet probably the square root of zilch. Nada. Nowt.
What is not written might be more accurate in this situation.
Headline should read “Parliamentarians are almost useless”. You could have the best code in the world, Roy, but when the MPs are either corrupt or incompetent (or both) do you honestly expect the outcome would be any different. I have about as much faith in the honesty and competence of most of our MPs as i do in the RCIPS !
Hear, Hear!!!!
Kaboom 💥
cayman mla’s are a joke.
free solution:
direct rule for 2 years while a new raft of political candidates are selected/vetted based on qualifications, experience and integrity. then we have new elections.
Previously I would have agreed but sadly the UK seems barely able to manage it’s self these days.
My sentiments exactly! If anyone thinks the UK is going to be of much help with sorting out our mess, then you’re in for a long wait. All that is needed is half an hour of any UK news source to see they have HUGE messes that will take many years and much effort. So, no time for us!
We have direct rule already…..the leaders whatever the crown wants even though it is often detrimental to Caymanians. The crown in turn allows the leaders to pillage the public coffers.
Beating women, fondling women, selling drugs, convictions, no breathalyzers, illegal billboards….change the voting system so we can all vote for the whole country and not just districts.
Its the only way to stop this SH!T Show!
Look at the chair of the pact boards. Says a lot.
UDP back in charge of the Port Authority.
How many fridges, washing machines or driveways being paved would that cost?
Add bullying and sexual harrassment of female staff
Fixed the headline for you
Why does anyone think that there is any redeeming quality about a system that selects a bunch of freemasons every four years to enrich themselves at the expense of the people that they claim to love?
Pure insanity!
HEAR, HEAR #2!
Can I add one more? The Masonic government of the Cayman Islands is not “of the people” or “by the people”!! They are only interested in enriching THEM$ELVE$!
No….. It isn’t insanity. It’s THEFT!
Freemasons, like regular masons, can only work with the tools and materials on hand.
Freeballers
That’s exactly what it is. A merry-go-round of halfwits taking it in turns to fill their face in the trough whilst making sure friends and family get a slice of the action. P*ss poor.
“Parlimentary”or “Ministers” Code of Conduct. Call it what they want. Any senior high student at any of Cayman’s top 3 private schools could have put together that farce of a document!
Hope it’s a living document because Walking Scandal MP is mentoring Jay and Kenneth. Watch this billboard!
Anyway it’s a start.
So when Wayne again attends the scene of an accident by an MP, who will investigate him? Inspector Clouseau or Lietenant Columbo?
Don’t worry – the RCIPS fall under the Governor’s supervision, and I am sure he will ensure they investigate MPs breaking the law with rigor and impartiality 😉
Says who?
Eric Bush?
the great thing is the Premier can pick who investigates himself. seems right
where is the ppm’s code of conduct?
Times are tough, so first, pay raises for everyone! Election coming, time to pave some roads and sign some irrevocable blank cheque agreements with our favorite baksheesh patron! Call FCCA and promise them a port!
I think they showed it to you when they refused to accept McKeeva in order to form a government.
you mean when mcaldart decided that rather than remove Mac they would desolve paliment and call a snap election?
do you PPM shills have short term memory loss or something?
Who memory short now? Or you just foo fool?
https://caymannewsservice.com/2020/03/panton-finally-quits-ppm/
It hasn’t been uncovered yet. (Don’t hold your breath!)
They had all the time in the world to do something useful but instead, PPM sold off the island to the highest bidder. Now they sit in the wings pointing fingers and complaining yet you know they’d do absolutely nothing of any substance other than keep selling out if they came to power again.
That lot over at Progressives HQ are the biggest set of whining numpty’s. They have no shame. Poor Roy sounds like an idiot with his every complaint written by Alden and his Bajan hired guns.
You are a wonderful and wise man Honorable McTaggart!
When did this happen?
UDP and PPM were in power for two decades. They are the ones that watered-down the SIPL document and created the colossal disclosure loopholes, and vacuous policy we cringe at. They even nominated their pal, former magoo Chair for an OBE. You can’t make this stuff up.
Exactly. Yet now they point the finger elsewhere.
#sickofcaymanpolitrix
At least someone has a good memory to remember this goes back before PPM, and all the other information mentioned by 2:24 p.m.
This administration is a joke. What of actual substance have they done in the nearly two years since the election? No real meaningful piece of legislation has been enacted, and we have the premier of the country asking for the country to tell them what it wants in a development plan. You have had two years and you got nothing still to even start a comprehensive exercise. An illegal billboard of Minister Bryan screaming yuletide greetings at drivers is still up, but you want to say that this parliamentary code will bring the minimum standards of integrity to the fore? A pathetic bunch this Pact-less, forget Wayne going back to the drawing board on this document, we should go back to the drawing board on this administration and have an EARLY election. Enough of the “power by any means necessary” nonsense!!! If you truly cared about the country, we would have a cohesive Cabinet and government, not this cobbled together mess with an inept Speaker (not her fault, she’s just too green and should never have been put in the seat) and McKeeva enjoying life on the government backbench bringing motions and acting virtuously, supported by your compliance. Disgusting. Early election now before it is too late.
Bars can play soft background music on Sundays.
PACT scrapped the entirely inane COVID hard-lockdown emergency measures and reopened Cayman’s travel economy, against furious, loud, and silly protestations from the PPM backbench. If PPM had their way, we would be treating our citizens and stakeholders worse than those under China’s oppressive regime.
PPM please just go away you are a disgrace
they all are. but who else can run when kids born and raised here can’t ever run unless their papa was also born here.
PPM led the government for eight years 2013-2021 with Alden McLaughlin as Premier and McTaggart as Minister of Finance. They failed to produce any code of conduct for MP’s but now in 2023 are complaining again about something they failed to do.
The PPM are the biggest hypocrites and delusional divas a bunch of bitter Betty’s who object to everything yet did nothing when in charge in the history of Cayman politics. None of them can be trusted to lead these islands with their dodgy deals and favors to wealthy developers while selling out the country.
You are correct, except that Roy McTaggart was PPM’s Minister of Finance (between 2017-2021) after Marco Archer (between 2013-2017).
While Minister of Finance, Roy reported that nobody in the entrusted PPM/Unity administration was keeping tally of limited duty waivers, finite concessions, powers or obligations of its favorite developer. An incredible admission to survive.
If we know this, wonder what we don’t know?
He’s not wrong.
They can’t even comply with existing laws, let alone a silly code of conduct.
Billboards still there Wayne.
Agreed, this is a total farce.
I’m waiting for the CMR brigade to spin this though of course.
Sandra is too busy defaming Miss Cayman to bother with this important stuff!
CMR can charitably be said to be exposing stuff which would otherwise be swept under the Carpet.
Excellent revelations of goings on and power plays by a board member who definitely needs investigation.
Without CMR, like it or hate it, these people would get away with a lot more than hey do.
I do not indulge in gossip and that is all she is exposing, ruining peoples lives and driving division. She shou ldbe shut down!
Shame on Wayne for supporting that sort of victimisation and bullying
I used to think that but she seems to be taming much (but not all) of that down a bit now. Can’t deny though that with CMR wrongs do get exposed and there is other news that we don’t always see on CNS and elsewhere.
The Port Authority mess is not gossip, it a warning that if left unchecked, certain politically connected and politically ambitious members can make little kingdoms for themselves, as inspired by Jamaican politics.
I see Mac signed on in November…
When did he go on his waste of public funds boy’s trip with Jay and Eric.?
It would be more accurate if you left “Parliamentary code” and “almost” out of headline.