Rankine replaces Seymour as labour minister
(CNS): Isaac Rankine MP (EE) resigned from his role in parliament as deputy speaker on Tuesday afternoon, signalling that he might be the next minister for labour. But it was not until 6:30pm yesterday, five days after Dwayne Seymour resigned from PACT and crossed the floor back to the opposition benches, that the premier’s office finally confirmed Rankine as the newest Cabinet member.
Premier Wayne Panton said Rankine had been appointed by Acting Governor Franz Manderson, adding that the rest of the Cabinet and Caucus remain determined to work together for the greater good of the people and the country.
Rankine said he was “honoured and grateful to take on the responsibility” as he thanked the premier and his colleagues for their confidence in him. “I look forward to taking on this challenge and serving the people of the Cayman Islands to the best of my ability.”
Panton said that with Rankine’s appointment, PACT would press forward as they always had “because the people of this nation need relief and solutions. Let me remind you that this is a government that truly cares for Caymanians. We will continue to offer solutions to the families and people of this country. That will not change,” he added.
The premier made no comment about Seymour’s criticisms of Panton’s leadership and said nothing about Seymour’s own performance as a minister over the last five months.
Prior to the announcement, Heather Bodden MP (SAV) was elected unopposed as the deputy speaker of the parliament before the meeting was adjourned without setting the date of the next session.
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
Category: Politics
Can’t we just replace our whole Parliament with AI bots. We’d at least save a ton of money on doing away with elections, side deals and funny business. Cayman could set a world precedent and maybe even recoup its reputation?
Yes, good idea. Of course, one day they would kill us all at once on the same night and make monuments to our largess with our bones.
Our corrupt politicians are already killing us. Slowly and agonisingly!
Isaac surround yourself with good people and help our fellow Caymanians back to work and off NAU.
Congrats Isaac. East End was long overdue for a ministerial representation.
You have 758 electors in a total electorate of 23569. Lucky to even have a specific MP.
Lol we soon get there.. like it or not, either we embrace the technology and integrate with it, or get left behind like when some people refused to use calculators.
I told AI to “write a short script for a comedic play about a parliamentary debate for a Caymanian politician who supports the legalisation of recreational marijuana.”. Here’s what it returned in 3 seconds:
“Ladies and gentlebobo of the honorable House, today we are gathered to discuss a matter of great importance to our beautiful Cayman Islands. I stand before you to adwocate for the legalisation of recreational marijuana, and I beliewe it’s high time we embrace this opportuniteh!
Unna need realise, marijuana can be a boon to our economy, bobo. Just imagine the tourism opportunities! We got them beautiful beaches, crystal-clear water, and now we can add a lil bit of herbal charm to attract more wisitors. We could hawe cannabis dispensaries generating tax rewenue just like the alcohol shops!
Unna please, let’s not forget the tax rewenue. We could use that money for improwing our schools, healthcare, and infrastructure. We could finalleh fix them potholes that’we been plaguing our roads.
Now, I know some may hawe concerns about safety, but let me tell you, unna, legalising it means regulating it. We can ensure that it’s sold safely and responsibly, keeping it out of the hands of our teedee and bobo who are too young to partake.
But perhaps the most important reason is personal freedom, bobo. We should hawe the right to make choices about our own liwes, as long as we’re not harming others. If someone wants to unwind with a little herb after a hard day’s work, who are we to say no!
So, my fellow representatiwes, I urge you to consider the benefits of this proposal, and let’s make Cayman a place where we can enjoy a lil bit of relaxation and freedom, while boosting our economy. Thank you, and let’s keep the good wibes rolling!”
that’s dumb
Are you now counting Mac as a member of PACT. Didn’t PACT force him to resign as Speaker? Are they still keeping him as a member, if so how does that work? His shenanigans are so bad that the PACT can’t support him as Speaker but they keep him as one of their members, the hypocrisy for convenience is unbelievable.
If Mac isn’t part of PACT then the count is 9 to 9, what happens if the Speaker is sick and the Deputy Speaker has to actually sit in the chair? Is this really a sustainable position until the next election. It has to be getting time for the Governor to consider whether any member has the support of the majority of the elected members of Parliament.
The way it sounds, there are a whole bunch of nonsense going on with these politicians.
It’s not the PACT’s fault. It is ours, for allowing this recombine-after-elections system. We should initiate a PIR to cause two votes: One for Premier, and the other for your district.
No. National vote. 17 votes for everyone. Let the top candidate in each district win – but be accountable also to the whole country. It is easy with technology – and will kill tribalism, and treating.
National vote, yes. Need to think more about the 17 votes for everyone tbh. But to say let the top candidate in each district win – doesn’t that defeat the purpose of a National vote?
You can’t have a separate vote for Premier under the Westminster system which we operate.
The PACT program of giving high paid jobs to our most unqualified and unemployable is working wonders!
mickey mouse wearsa caymans island government wrist watch….
its one big expensive joke at this stage. 4/5 expat professionals, highly trained in management and accounting could handle all of of cayman affairs by working 3-4 hours per day.
Troll
you spelt truth wrong.
It’s undoubtedly intended to be provocative, and at its core is nonsense – 5 professionals couldn’t handle even a small economy. But we have thousands of civil servants who are meant to do that. MOs are meant to a) represent their constituents and b) a subset of them form a government to give the civil servants policy direction. And that’s where the 4 to 5 person truth bites. Minimum size of a constituency in the UK is 69000 people. And how many of our politicians can you say are actually active in setting policy ( even where those polices actually appear to disagree with each other!).? Maybe 5? At the core of the OPs post, deprecating though it may be, is a nasty truth. It doesn’t take 19 people to represent a population of 80000, and it doesn’t take more than a single figures cabinet to give policy direction for a small island. The size and cost of Caymans government is driven by ego and self interest not necessity. But you are not going to see any of the pigs at the trough voting to reduce the size and cost of government.
C’mon Wayne don’t you think it’s time to call new elections? If you are successful in receiving a true mandate for your policies then you will be able to carry those out.
If Mr. Rankine is minister material then he should have been in that position from the beginning. It seems as if you are desperate to continue as premier no matter how unruly the other pact loose cannons may be.
Without a doubt ju ju, Kenneth & Chris are looking to take your position. Jay on the other hand just does as he pleases and ignores your ideals.
Isaac is a far better choice than Jon Jon.
That’s a low bar to beat
The New UDP in formation.
You don’t worry, we have plenty of them to switch.
Buck Owens had a song about this. It was “Here we go again”!
Just when you think it can’t get any worse, Waynecito proves you wrong!
The willing, led by the unknowing!!!
At least one of our politicians prefers listening to Jim Stafford singing The Wildwood Weed. Try listening.
Dwayne’s “performance”. Did he actually do one single solitary thing? How did we elect that buffoon to begin with?
Perhaps he was elected to be the gift of comedic relief every time he opens his mouth.
It is no longer funny, just tragic.
Di·as·po·ra
8.55…how did WE elect that Buffoon..?
The “WE” is the Mac’s status grant pickney dem, in Bodden town.
WE …?
We didn’t elect him. We allowed Mac’s Borden town status grant Jamaicans to put him there.
The same ungrateful pieces who will start demanding independence.
We want to join up with Jamaica! Ring the bell!!!!!
First order of business should be to investigate the company that Seymour runs to make sure it is complyiant with all the proper labor laws. Also why can’t the work his company is doing at the airport be put out for a competitive bid since he and Saunders want to make sure we the people are getting value for money; maybe someone will do it cheaper.
Second order of business should be to investigate all of the minister owned companies that receive government business to ensure there is no naughtiness…
The meeting of the obligations of jon jon’s contract with CAL needs to be audited. Has he ever implied to CAL management that he would stand against CAL in the house if his contracts were not renewed? Has he billed extra for services that he was already contractually obligated to provide to CAL?
Congrats, Minister Rankine.
Can’t be no worse than Jon jon Seymour can the government please tell us exactly what he did as minister of labour name one thing !
He was sleeping most of the time waiting for a full moon!
Cayman has the highest government revenue per capita in the Caribbean, but is a poor country because of a misplaced reliance on bent politicians that were born with the lineage of a Cayman-born grandparent. We have seen that this lineage does not genetically confer truth, loyalty, honour, duty, prudence, intelligence, empathy, solvency, law-abidance, or fiscal responsibility. What is this requirement for if it does not serve a purpose that aligns with voter mission and sentiment? The only thing it does is limit the field of candidates that can legitimately offer to serve the territory in good faith. Time to scrap it, and require clean criminal records, at minimum. Reshuffling the same deck, wastes our time.
The purpose it serves is preserve the election pool for their generation. Keep out the new Caymanians for a couple of generations. My young kids were born here to a Caymanian parent but they, along with me cannot run for office, only their children will be eligible. While the law says a status holder is a Caymanian they really are not.
The law is the law.
Until it is not
Even slavery was the law at one point of time. That doesn’t make it right.
Just on a point of order, where and when was it required that one have slaves?
It was legal in other words dumb ass
The law allowed slavery genius. The law was the law and then it was changed to no longer allow it.
Cayman is a Christian Nation and it is ordained in the Holy Bible. That “don’t be gay” stuff in Leviticus applies to everyone, not just those who are so inclined.
A few chapters further on from the gay command it clearly states “Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. You can bequeath them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.
Are you trying to suggest that people can simply choose ignore the commands laid out in that Sacred Volume?
wow!
Not when it is ignored with impunity. Then it is just words.
There is legally no such thing as a Caymanian. British Overseas Territories Citizens is what they are.
So you admit then culturally their is such thing as caymanian. And that is what bothers most of you.
Agreed. One way to tackle the endless recycling of incompetent leaders is to allow naturalized Caymanians to run for office. Not only does this broaden the pool of talent and expertise, but it will also serve to light a fire under the bottoms of the incumbents to raise their standards or get voted out.
Read the above, you need a caymanian grandparent to run for office. A law that is not for the people but for the politicians exclusively.
So they have nine votes, not a majority. Untenable government madame Governor.
No. PACT has 10 MPs (11 including the Speaker for tie beaker votes), which is a majority over 8 MPs on the Opposition side of the aisle. How is that not a majority?
hey now, take your facts out of here!, you will upset the PPM bots.
They will happily burn everything down so King Roy and Prince Alden can rule the ashes and then sell it to a developer for fill.
Oh, so you are including the person currently charged with serious sexual assault who has already been convicted of assault as a member of the government? That’s big of you.
Wayne, any comment?
Correct. Mac is an MP, who sits as a Government backbencher, that helps the PACT maintain a majority in Parliament.
Heather appointed, but gets immediate relief from actually showing up for a days work.
Given how often parliament even bothers to meet, a days work is stretching it.