PPM ‘hopes’ PACT can hold government together
(CNS): Following the departure of Chris Saunders from the PACT Government on Tuesday, Opposition Leader Roy McTaggart said that it “hardly comes as a surprise” as cracks within PACT had been apparent from the start. Speaking on behalf of the Progressives, he said Panton now had the “slimmest of majorities” but added, “We do hope that he will be able to hold his government together despite this.”
Following the announcement from the premier’s office, Government Information Services requested the local media attend a press briefing in the evening. But moments before the conference was due to go live, members of the media were told we would not be allowed to ask any questions.
Instead, the premier, surrounded by the remaining nine PACT MPs, read out the statement released that morning.
It is not clear why the press was asked to attend if the government was not prepared to answer any questions directly. CNS immediately submitted a number of questions in writing in relation to the announcement, and we continue to await an official response to any of them.
We have also tried to contact Saunders to address some of the allegations about him that may have led to his departure, but so far, we have been unable to reach him. According to sources close to events, it appears that Saunders did not resign but was fired as a result of allegations that he has been trying to run what one insider told CNS was a “shadow government within the government”.
The Progressives have also accused PACT of failing to get things done because of “three or four different factions in the same Cabinet” that were undermining the process of collective responsibility. As the Cayman Islands follows a Westminster style of government, this means that Cabinet members must be aligned and present a collective position on government policy.
The opposition leader is, however, making political capital out of Saunders’ departure from what he has said is a government with no clear strategy. McTaggart suggested the Cabinet reshuffle might “help the government regroup so that it can now focus on delivering solutions to the challenges the country is facing rather than its own internal divisions”.
After the reshuffle Dwayne Seymour, who ran as an independent aligned with the PPM during the 2021 elections but joined PACT in November 2021, is now the minister for Labour and Border Control. He is the second former PPM-aligned minister to sit in the PACT Cabinet, as Juliana O’Connor-Connolly joined the group on the eve of this administration’s swearing-in ceremony.
The loss of Saunders and the uncertainty about where McKeeva Bush’s loyalties lie suggest that PACT could now be facing eight MPs in opposition. With Kathy Ebanks-Wilks in the speaker’s chair, PACT retains ten votes in parliament, which is a sufficient majority to hold onto government but, as McTaggart pointed out, is the “slimmest of majorities”.
Speaking on the Resh Hour this week, the opposition leader said it would give the opposition the ability to undermine and embarrass the government. It would only take two PACT MPs to be outside the chamber during a debate on legislation for the opposition to force a vote and then vote down the government’s agenda.
“They need to have all their people in a seat if they want to ensure the passage of anything,” he said, as he reflected on the PPM’s own challenges with a slim majority. “You have to have somebody watching out all the time… One of the weapons the opposition has… if they see there is a minority of the government bench in there, it can call for a vote.”
McTaggart said such strategies are part of politics, hinting that the opposition would now be watching closely. The PPM has no immediate plans for a no-confidence vote, which he described as another weapon, as McTaggart said it was too early to make that move.
However, in the press release from the opposition about Saunders’ resignation from PACT, he claimed that the Progressives were hoping that Panton would be “able to hold his government together”.
McTaggart said there were real concerns about the impact on the local economy and the business community this division has caused, especially given the lack of transparency over the rift.
See the PACT press briefing below:
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Category: Politics
@10:53am..Roy only thinks he will be Premier..Alden will throw him to the side like he did McKeeva if and I say “if” the PPM ever regains power again. God help us!
It seems that Saunders information about sexual harassment was circulating on the social grapevine for sometime. It is about time that our government did what had to be done. Irregardless of what side of the government one may be in or your social or political or financial or religious status in our society, NO ONE IS ABOUT THE LAW. LET THIS BE ANOTHER STRONG REMINDER!
I understand it must have been hard to make such a decision but doing the right thing is never the easiest option.
Long before gambling vote should be a vote on Sunday Shopping. Cayman is living in a selectively-blasphemous dark ages. Give all licensed business owners the legal option to open or not, and let the free market take it from there.
They bought $284B of US debt
😂
Where did the $284B come from ??? Two hundred eighty-four billion dollars is a lot of moolah! Did they borrow it from McKeever? or Mr. Dart? Or maybe the CPA? It does smell fishy.!
Disaster period.
Picture of solidarity and confidence……NOT! What a disgarace of a Government.
Got to like Julies Mafia glasses though.
We might not be in this mess if the opposition who claim to be ‘hoping’ PACT can hold it together, had been willing to compromise and team up with Wayne after the election. Country before self.
It takes two to compromise…perhaps it was Wayne who insisted on being premier that prevented that..?
He’s far more principled than any other Premier we had. By far the best choice for Premier.
But you’ll be generously rewarded with not having to do a full day’s work , followed by a fat pension and medical benefits for the rest of your life.
Absolutely love Jamrock Saunders complaining about the insinuation that Jamaicans are responsible for most of the imported crime on this Island lmao.
“most ministers took offense at the Governors remarks”. JUST BECAUSE YOU DON’T LIKE IT DOESN’T MAKE IT UNTRUE!.
Roper is right, he is clearly highlighting the Jamaican hole below the waterline of the Caymanian boat. Caymanians take note now, your politicians care more about future status votes that yours.
They will deny all problems attributed to the mass importation of foreign cultures regardless of validity whilst they cash in their chips and it wouldn’t surprise me, if we see Chris and his clan some how end up in the UK on his earned passport living on the money he will make from the rest of us all the way until his dying days whilst blaming the problems back home in Cayman on “imperialism” and “pigmentocracy”.
No Saunders, we don’t like the mass importation of poverty because poverty breeds crime and you’re still blaming it on race.
Well done Governor for saying it like it is.
Shame on you Saunders for not accepting that a social problem needs fixing.
As usual “racist” is your comfortable excuse for carrying on like a Jamaican politician…but wait…
Our crime is not imported! Home spun by truly evil neighbours!
Politics doesn’t make you anything. They are what they were, long before entering politics.
why not crown Dart as sole leader and he’ll make Cayman a fine oiled machine.
He is. This lot are just a little sideshow.
Dart can’t manage their own parking lots
PACT is a young Government, fortunately they did and do have some guidance from veteran politicians. PACT has implemented many initiatives for the CAYMANIAN people (well, during Saunders’ time anyway, we shall see what happens next). I guess that is the problem for many, the numerous initiatives that mostly improve the lives of locals.
Since PACT isn’t rubber-stamping work permit and PR applications, and making every planning application slip through in 3 days we have every non-national from other realms of the universe complaining and saying the government is this, that and incompetent etc.
I really hope our locals, the VOTERS spend the next 12 months reading the Hansards, comparing the new laws, policies and initiatives effected since PACT to those of the past and forming your own opinion and not be swayed by these majority expat negative commentary.
Furthermore, the cost of living for Cayman is a difficult issue that not even larger Governments around the world can tackle – so before you start screaming about why is the Government not helping with that. Yes, they are and they are trying all they can and have done quite a bit. But please remember, if you are struggling with managing your household budget, can you imagine managing a national budget? If our Government is not strategic and prudent, the whole country goes under financially. This is not overnight work to determine steps to take that will give wide-reaching community benefit while not threatening the local economy or national budget, it takes time, patience, planning, consultation and more before any initiatives can be made.
“ the numerous initiatives that mostly improve the lives of locals”
Go on them, I’ll bite. Name some. Here being so numerous and all – perhaps I am a little dense and missed them.
Reading the Hansards will be a short exercise at this rate…
Hi Wayne or is that one of Sandy’s henchmen ? Pact have been a complete disaster. End.
Yes, some may say the kickback by Chris has intonations of the early Jamaican rebels but it’s indicative of a wider problem.
I’m a local but lets be honest.
The pleasant island/British decorum for which we are known as Caymankind is fading and under stress.
The levels of hate, abuse and victimization in every way is now so prevalent against the locals that is almost like a new S Africa.
The dilution and denial of native rights, from beach and jobs access to even the right to an Identity, is now challenged on a daily – and only the eventual zapappa will bring some people to their senses.
The cheap psychology and suppression of wages and living conditions is now at a crisis level, as the independent report was published this week ..by ChatGPS No Less.
Locals are soft but others will stand up to it.
Looking at that photo with Jon Jon and Kenny on the front row near the Premiere is the perfect portrait to explain how low Cayman politics has sunk.
I wouldn’t let those two run a bath let alone a country.
I think it’s time to leave Kenneth alone. He made his mistakes, who hasn’t. He came from nothing and actually gives a ship. Why does he get so much hate? Because of his past? I wish we could all be less judgmental and put forward useful ideas and comments.
I’m not too worried about Kenny’s past. It’s his future, as he sees it, that bothers me.
His past current and future choices are all deeply worrying. He is among the serious criminal conviction group that would not have been eligible to stand for election to public office in many other countries, nor qualify to hold positions of trust, or handle money and budget spending, whether public or private sector. That’s not hate, it’s just fact. Only in Cayman. This is also why we continue to be under scrutiny as a politically corrupt territory.
Government however is setting the example by handing out major contracts to people with convictions , just because they slime themselves into social circles.
And he’s also a shining example of the Dunning Kruger effect in action. The crying video.
You mean like pretending to have a Harvard MBA..?
Actually I used to agree with you Kenny was the PPM scapegoat. But his latest ideas are barking mad and have me fearing for our future. The criticism of his current whimsical ideas is well deserved he needs to suck it up.
So true. But I bet we’ll elect the same low-life, self-preserving, egotistical, divisive, criminal, and corrupt caliber of politician as always. “We the People” are to blame!! Our elected government is in fact a valid reflection of our society.
No one is smiling, this just shows that things are not going well with the PACT Government. And one of the worst thing they have done is to not take questions from the press. The Press plays a very important part of being the voice for the people. And by not taking questions means that they don’t want to hear from the people, the Pact thinks the questions that would have been asked is the Press only. Say what anyone wants about the Progressive, one thing they have done, is to welcome questions from the Press.
The PPM welcome questions from the press? What have you been smoking. Remember all those press conferences after the. so is lockdown stopped? No I don’t either – because there weren’t many. And who can forget ““You would have to be brave enough to ask that kind of question, I don’t know who would be that stupid” response from the then PPM minister Seymour.
Everyone one of the pact that’s who
I am wondering how many commenters here and on the prior posts actually know Mr. Saunders. I have also seen several comments stating that civil servants who worked with him, did not like him. Why? Because he insisted that people actual come to work to do work and get things done?
I am not sure how he has given people the impression that he is arrogant, he appears more to be a man with confidence, a vision for what he expects from any team he is on and also expectations for people on a Government salary.
Maybe you should read the Compass article with his exact words.
Tell that to HSBC, lol
Always against our own, never realizing divide and conquer is what keeps you where they want you. Glad you stood up to Governor Chris. He will get his, Karma is a bitch. As for Wayne, supported you but can’t wait to vote you out and let you have more time to hug a tree.
Let’s be honest, you have a problem with the Governor because he’s white don’t you? Never mind his career of civil service and diplomacy that would absolutely wipe the floor with any member of our CIG.
You dislike him because he’s competent, pulls you up on what’s wrong and then when it comes down to it, you can pull the race or imperialist card whilst benefiting massively from the fact that if he wasn’t here, we would be a spittle that was thrown over Cuba from Florida with absolutely nothing. (otherwise known as Jamaica)
As I read this comment I’m reminded of the sad ignorance of our voting population.
I guess we get the government we deserve.
this is just the tip of the iceberg – as soon as the /governor departs, all will come out of the woodwork and demolish him – too late I hear you say!! There is a lot more to this for sure – lets hear it now.
‘Thank You’ Governor Roper & Premier Panton for properly demonstrating your will to lead & make those “well informed” tough decisions.
Saunders is not one of our own.
He talks Jamaican, lives Jamaican. acts Jamaican. Check out his family and you’ll see pure Jamaican.
That’s it then…just round him up and hang him, tar and feathers would legitimize it. After all, you have the proof that he is guilty by descent…?… What a great moment for Cayman Kind when you are able to rid yourself of the Jamaican problem! As a proud Panhead myself, I also wait to see the problem solved.
10:20. you have been conned
Maybe a certain restaurant can now be expected to obey the many court orders to honor their outstanding pension obligations to many powerless employees .
what restaurant? what does that mean?
A restaurant that is now less well politically connected than it used to be.
He should have also insisted that they answer their phones and emails.
And switch off their cellphones
I hear the sentiment and I agree with most rhetoric; PACT is inept. However, the converse is/was a group that aligned their interest with that of those on the higher end of the economic scale. It’s time for REAL change and not just the same last names that have been in power in this country for GENERATIONS. We know the legacy of MOST these (Caymanian)elected members, PPM especially. Don’t get it? just look at the leaders of each “party”, do your research it’ll all make sense.
I wouldn’t call it rhetoric. It’s pretty much a fact. This government is wholly inept. Wayne would have been able to figure that out for himself is his careful performance review pf his PACT-less administration.
Part of the imported Central American culture of running illegal numbers is the associated loan-sharking network where the most vulnerable and desperate of society, (perhaps already battling another addiction problem), are willing to give it all in a Hail Mary attempt to rescue themselves by running their lucky numbers one more time, and those bills come due on the losers with interest. There are bill collectors, intimidators, those who “own” others, and expired casualties in the morgue. The RCIPS does not have a clear Gambling policy because even the highest officials in the land seem to equate illegal numbers, and the networks of criminal industry connected to it, with church and Rotary raffles. It’s much bigger than that.
Pretty easy solution, bring in a team of police officers, put them up in a secure location, their team is not part of the usual org chart, and have them go at it.
This means no Jamaicans or Caymanians for a start. And their one job is to sort it out. It happened it new york, it happened in the met in the 80s before it went royally down hill afterwards.
You can not, and will not, ever sort crime when the foxes are running the hen house. This island is too small. Bring in the MPs from the British Army and have them crack on with our problems for a year or two.
Bet they sort it out.
They can’t sort it out until we weed out corruption because they’d be treading on too many toes.
“They need to have all their people in a seat if they want to ensure the passage of anything,”
They need to have a sitting of parliament first.
And you all think Wayne didn’t know what was going on?? This present government needs to go
Still no published declarations of interest for any of them. So much for transparency under SIPL.
Wayne is simply too arrogant for anybody to work with. I’ve experienced him first hand with his ego and secxism. Not leadership material!
You do realise that the root of arrogance is persons stem from the lack of self esteem. They try their utmost to turn off everyone so they do not have to interact. They go through life blustering and pushing everything and everyone in their path. I am not saying that Wayne is like that, I don’t know him that well. He appears as quiet as a lamb.
And Saunders is? Kenny? The Bern?
Well, Mac, Bernie & Saunders have been both been “put in their place”.
Next up, is Jay, Jon-Jon, & Kenny if they continue down the same as Saunders.
Kathy may also suffer the same fate if she doesn’t follow government policy & take particular care in the manner she represents her People & this Country.
Saunders considers anyone who disagrees with him to be racist . The usual response from those who have a massive chip on their shoulder.
my experience with him is the exact opposite. he was a partner in the law firm, I was fresh off the boat on a permit as a secretary. He was kind and gracious and a gentleman. Many years ago, but he seemed a good man.
Maybe PACT can finally start tackling the years of PR application backlogs – a legal process suspended by Saunders under the pretense of challenging fake marriages. Perhaps start with those piles of applicants that aren’t even married, but with means to sue the government?
And with a major financial crisis beginning is this the Government to lead us through ?
No way Jose !
We don’t have ANYONE fit too see us through. That is the problem.
One should not be surprised about there being so few sittings of the LA. When Wayne was chairperson of Cayman Bar Association he held no meetings for 2 years. Too lazy.
We are a colony, we don’t really make the decisions. All any government can do is keep the people in line as the government of the day sells everything it can.
So let me get this straight, Miss Juliana (who has never resigned from PPM) is now Deputy Premier in the PACT government.
So, Mr. Roy technically you already have a PPM member in cabinet – but for some reason she was not included in the PPM 2023 calendar???
Give it a rest. Miss Juliana has changed sides more often than the ball in a world cup game.
Too funny. A rolling stone gathers no moss.
Miss Julie is maintain her parliamentary employment and, by extension, her political career. She works on behalf of her People, carry-out the duties & mandates of her Ministries, and contributes to the Party/Coalition Government Manefesto, post-election. Simply doing her job. Minister Seymour has adopted the same principles as the now Deputy Premier- without fear, favour or “strict” party loyalty. It’s the People’s work they came to do.
Written by someone who got their driveway paved for free no doubt.
Could this be her last year???
You are missing the Forrest through the trees, Roy’s goal is the be THE PREMIER and nothing short of that can fill the hole in his heart.
Per the article:
“…moments before the conference was due to go live, members of the media were told we would not be allowed to ask any questions.”
The T in “PACT” is supposed to stand for “Transparency”. But now, when the heat is on, they refuse to allow the press to ask any questions? Now we know what heinous deceivers they are. We also now know that they truly deserve the nickname “Panton-PACTless Clown Car.
We the people deserve transparency and answers, not stonewalling. But Panton and his PACTless minions are busy crafting their coverup. Once they have their stories down pat, they will allow the press to ask questions. This is pathetic! I cannot believe how voters scraped the bottom of the barrel to install these clowns into office.
Photo at the top looks like they’re all attending a funeral!
Their own, probably.
More like feigning intelligence and professionalism.
To 8.20 Funny isn’t it. Many of these care nothing about Caymanians but prepared to sue to get to remain here. They feel entitled.
Julianna must think her future so bright, Shes got to wear shades.
Lol
Julie AKA Ray Charles.
Surprise ! Not …
how did we here Cayman?
can’t we do better?
Looking at them, reading their names and reflecting on how inept, uneducated and unprofessional the majority of this PACK is breaks my heart. How can we in all honesty accept tthis for another two years. This is a real mess and I hope by some miracle we can change this before too long. Instead of progressing we have regressed so far down that I wonder if there really is any hope for us. Two years and they can’t show anything they have accomplish, possibly two more years of backstabbing and undermining each other. Mr. Premier I thought that you were making a huge mistake with them, how could you trust them when it was alleged that some of them had agreed to join the PPM then they switched over. If that was true then that was your signal that they were not reliable and loyal to
you nor to our Beloved Isles Cayman. This is not a game, everything and all of us is on the line here. This is our homeland, we have nowhere else to go so you all better get serious and stop messing around. As an old adage goes. “You really need to have eyes in the back of your head”
@7:35:
You are appealing to Panton? He is the power-hungry ne’er do well who made deals with devils in order to grab power. Panton is the creator of the Panton-PACTless Clown Car. Panton is hardly the one who is going to change anything for the better. It is passed time to call for early elections.
Elections have consequences. This is the government you got 🤡🤡🤡
“It is not clear why the press was asked to attend if the government was not prepared to answer any questions directly”. It is crystal clear. They want to control what you print.
Based on Article in Compass, it would appear that someone at the highest level of CI Government broke the Official Secrets Act, 1989 by revealing the email exchanges.
Probably someone that isn’t in the government anymore.
Actually, you are wrong.
https://www.caymancompass.com/2014/11/19/cabinet-records-kept-secret/
November 19, 2014 “Cabinet records kept secret, onus placed on government to release records”
‘However, Mr. Liebaers also noted that nothing in the current open records law prevents Cabinet members from making decisions or proceedings of the governing body if its members wished to do so.
“Even where an applicant may not have a statutory right to obtain access to a record or part thereof, a public authority can still decide to disclose it voluntarily,” Mr. Liebaers wrote in his decision on the matter.’
Look closer at the picture and you can see Catron pulling the strings
Honestly, I see the reshuffle as business as usual. So, I will not lose sleep or get myself stressed out. All I ask is that these elected persons work to ensure that they always put the people of the Cayman Islands first and foremost in every action they carryout on behalf of the government. ‘WE THE PEOPLE’ ARE YOUR BOSS NOT THE OTHER WAY ROUND.
LOL. Who pays their salaries, you or them? Your input ended the day you cast your ballot.
We pay their salaries from the public purse.
Well Roy I don’t think the people want the ppm back in with their focused strategy of lining their own pockets. You’re disgusting dude.
Yeah! We prefer low-level drug dealers and woman beaters to run things here. #caymankind
man Cayman has short term memory loss I swear, remember that Alden dissolved the government because he didn’t want to have remove Mac? Also the drug dealer was a minister under Alden as well. Take your selective outrage and hypocrisy and jump into the sun.
Louder so the PPM propaganda bots in the back can hear too
Which drug dealer was a Minister under Alden? Check yourself before you wreck yourself.
We definitely need an early election now. Enough of the farce. The country should not be held hostage anymore to this PACT grouping that forced themselves upon us. No one voted for PACT. People voted for district MPs. And interestingly enough every single Progressives minister that ran in 2021 retained their seat. If there was a mandate from the people, one could argue that was one. But still not a clear Progressives win.
But what is clear is that no one wanted this non-principled grouping calling itself a Cabinet that is PACT, a group of people with no clear manifesto, no clear road map to get work done, which is pass laws. With the fewest sittings of parliament ever in two years, it’s clear they cannot achieve agreement on anything of real meaning to bring to parliament to vote on and pass as an act. And no, that non-mandatory, opt-in digital ID bill does not factor.
Power by any means necessary, eh Wayne? Isn’t it time to give it up now and do right by the people? How can you look at yourself in the mirror and say this is in the best interest of my people and my country?
Yes…. the party that didn’t have enough members to form a majority should have gotten to run the show…
You really don’t get how parliament and democracy work do you?
move on with ya stupidi commemt . this signals the dawn of the dawn of tjd PACT group for they now realizd that togethrr is better than being out in the cold. Selah.
Jah Dread
You don’t know the true meaning of “Selah”, but use it as an affectation.
It’s WELL past time to widen the eligibility to run for office to status holders. We have to deepen the pool of talent which at the moment, barely gets your wee toe wet.
And for all generational Caymanians reading this and seething, ask yourselves HONESTLY if you are happy with the status quo and can say that status holders wouldn’t add another dimension to the politics on this island.
A whole new generation of Caymanians are working their way through the first few years of the workplace now. Thing will be changing in a way that lifts these islands out of their tribal ways.
NOT in our life time. The rules are clear so if you don’t like them go home to where you come from if that burning ambition to run for office is something you cannot overcome. Good luck bobo
The rules maybe clear but that does not make them right. A status holder is a Caymanian by law, but not eligible for two generations (you need a caymanian grandparent to run for office) The rules serve only one purpose and that is to protect this generation of candidates. This is NOT for the people but the politicians.
The irony is that we were Jamaicans when that was introduced.
You do realise when you say “status holders” it means all status holders. You really want that? I don’t think so.
To be clear, don’t want Jamaican status holders.
Gonna need a whole lot of Gorilla Glue for that.
Gorilla misting more appropriate here.
Shambles.
That puts it mildly!