PPM leader refutes Panton’s claim over Mac
(CNS): Opposition Leader Roy McTaggart has denied sending any indirect message to Premier Wayne Panton about who should have replaced Dwayne Seymour on the Public Accounts Committee. On Friday, Panton made the controversial nomination of beleaguered MP McKeeva Bush (WBW) and has implied he did so because McTaggart, who chairs PAC, had indicated that he did not want Saunders to sit on the committee.
However, McTaggart stated in correspondence with CNS that this is not the case and the opposition has had no involvement in the premier’s decision.
“I can confirm that I did not send any message, directly or indirectly, to the premier regarding the membership of the PAC,” McTaggart stated. “In fact, on Friday afternoon, I spoke with him briefly prior to the start of the special meeting asking him why he chose [Bush] as [Seymour’s] replacement.”
McTaggart said the premier then told him that he “understood that I did not want” Saunders on PAC. “I told him plainly that I had not made any representations regarding the future make-up of the PAC. Indeed, we hadn’t even discussed it in our caucus.”
A PPM member also told CNS that the opposition leader and the premier usually communicate directly an do not use intermediaries.
But during on appearance on Cayman Marl Road on Monday, Panton pointed the finger at the opposition leader. He said that after Seymour resigned from the committee, he had an indirect message from McTaggart that “there was a particular person who he did not want”.
Noting that it was an important tradition that the opposition takes the leadership on PAC, Panton said he wanted to appoint someone the chairperson would be “more comfortable with. Let’s put it that way.”
The premier said that “despite what has transpired”, Bush remains an MP and was qualified to sit on the committee. “There are those who will not agree with it and those who are OK with it, but the business of government has to continue,” he said.
“As long as Bush is an elected member… despite everything else that may be going on in terms in his legal issues, he is still entitled to participate as a member of parliament,” Panton said, adding that he had to operate with the realities.
However, the premier has been broadly criticised for the decision. The opposition has accused Panton of trying to appease his divided government in a desperate attempt to cling to power.
Commentators on CNS have also been very critical of the decision, and social media posts show that people are concerned about Bush’s continued ability to manipulate the government, despite his existing criminal conviction and his latest criminal charges.
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Category: Politics
Perhaps while Wayne is off at the coronation next week the’de-throning’ will begin. His last Royal trip to the UK resulted in his team (and i use that term loosely) trying to oust him. Lets watch this space.
Think about it.🤪 Before DuWayne The Brain got his ministerial post he was on PAC now we have Mac…. there is a drought at the gene pool folks🤡🤡🤡
There will be a real alternative next election.
Fixed it for you 1040am.
WILL THERE be a real alternative next election?
There will.
Yeah, It will probably be between “Worse” and “Worser”.
Like Worse vs. Worser ? Ho-hum.
?
The political system here is not fit for purpose. It’s the size of a small town, yet is ran as though it’s a megacity or country.
The place is too small to have ‘opposition’. It’s idiotic.
Can we please have some educated candidates, not in it for themselves, with just an ounce of humility? please!!!!
A vast number of voters do not appreciate educated articulate candidates. They only want candidates who can give them turkeys and a lil money and who can shout and holler crap to them. Were are in a hot mess on this Rock!
That is why Saunders held up PR for so many educated professionals. He and his buddies know that educated voters will not support him, DuhWane, Or Kenneth Bryan.
With those three plus Mac in power, better treble the NAU handout budget, because that’s the needy we’re going to get as Caymanians.
Just see the meeting KB had the other day .. empty vessels and plenty noise comes to mind.
It is disengenuous for the PPM to claim Wayne appointed Mac to PAC in order to cling to power. Fact is PPM does not have the numbers to make up the govt regardless of what they do with Mac. Wayne, and by extension Cayman, is stuck in this pickle until the next election. Its as sad and as simple as that.
please keep Saunders away from the PAC and the Auditor General.
In fact please keep Saunders away from everything ,full stop.
Thanks 25/04/2023 @ 6:32pm.
“The Seven Nolan Principles”
For the love of our country, I ask of every MP and the Civil Service, please make yourselves familiar with these principles.
Your current actions fall short of ‘World Class Service’.
Learn them and going forward, apply them to the jobs you have been elected / hired to do.
Actions speak louder than words.
The seven Nolan Principles: Selflessness, Integrity, Objectivity, Accountability, Openness, Honesty and Leadership. 0/7
It will never happen. The politicians here are just like anywhere else…… They really DON’T shiv a git about the Nolan Principles!
Just for the record….. When were Masonic members NOT allowed
to be our politicians??? And why is it okay now? H-m-m-m-m?
Now you know that’s a pile of hog wash. Bush ain’t going to give PPM no leeway overPACT , too much bad blood running Dey. Furthermore it wouldn’t suit him to do so for ppm would surely turn around and bite him and he knows it. So 3:31 shut ya clappers ya don’t know acting about anything !!
Doesn’t really matter who is on the committee when the reports are years late and there is more money rolling in thsn even the politicians can spend.
Well Ive heard it all now!! Did Wayne say he put MAC on PAC because Roy dont like Chris ? Is this the childish game that our Premier has engaged in? No wonder nobody in his Cabinet can stand him. Petty snake!
If Roy doesn’t like Chris he is not the only one. The Premier doesn’t like him either. I do not believe that Roy told Wayne any such thing. Wayne is acting like a frightened school boy and will say any nonsense that pops into his head. Another one way over his head.
This is surely an interesting turn of events, Panton left the PPM because of Bush, to get the Premiership he adopted Bush and made him speaker, from which he had to be removed. Now in an effort to appease Bush supporters in Cabinet of which there are several, he has to put him on the PAC from which he has already been removed by a PPM government for bad conduct even though Roy McTaggart as chairmen of PAC allowed Bush to appoint himself Deputy Chairman a position that does not exist in standing Orders. Sanders is by far the most qualified to sit on the PAC as he performed admirably under Ezzard as Chairman.
This is simply a further erosion of the standards of the institutions that protect our democracy all in the interest of power.
This entire situation is just the result of us attempting to imitate the full extent of the Parliamentary system while only having 19 MPs, 8 of whom are Ministers and one of whom is the Speaker.
On the government side there is meant to be a distinct backbench who are not ministers or junior ministers separate from the government that would be on relevant committees and give any majority government an actual majority in Parliament to work with so that every single election we don’t have governments forming with 1 or 2 person majorities who can’t get rid of people like Mckeeva because they are kingmakers who can unseat the Government if they don’t get their way
Until Parliament is either expanded or the number of Cayman likes to pretend it is some proper functioning democracy but we still have representatives elected on the scale of a city council – we had more Vestrymen and The Parliamentary system does not function
Prior to 1959 when the Legislative Assembly was first established we had many more Vestrymen, J.P.s as shown here
https://portal.elections.ky/index.php/publication/history-of-elections-in-the-cayman-islands
The civil service has expanded to accommodate the growth in our population as it needed to it seems to be the only place where we have not grown in decades is our legislature.
We need to move past having 10 people who are making all decisions in Cabinet, then showing up in Parliament passing the things they have already discussed with almost no further consideration or scrutiny and then patting themselves on the back and suspending parliament for 4 months – Parliament needs to be sitting weekly or bi-weekly with a rolling agenda not meeting 2 or 3 times a year most of which are just to pass the budget and let the Governor give a speech
Until Cayman matures politically we will will be governed by infants
spineless stuff as usual from wayne.
the guy can’t go 5 mins without another pr disaster…
Hey Premier, just tell the truth, that as long as MP Bush has a deciding vote to keep me in power, I will do whatever I have to to keep him on my side. Please stop with all the other smoke and mirrors!
The gene pool that Panton has to select from is just so tiny.
What is the guy suppose to do?
We suffer from a massive shortage of talented people in our political system.
Just so 😭 😞 for our future.
He should do what is right by the people and stop worrying about himself so much. He is such a disapointment compared to the former member for Newlands. At least he did what the people expected him to do. Wayne is very much for himself and his power. Big Big disapointment he turned out to be.
Oh but he had plenty money to handout! Too many are more interested in the cash than in what their representatives can and will do to make their constituency and the entire Cayman Islands a better place. Until Caymanians realise that; we will always come up short.
When he was a partner in a big Law Form, how many young Caymanian Lawyers did he help ?. I can’t recall any. He was always only for himself.