PPM watching and waiting for PACT’s demise

| 02/10/2023 | 65 Comments
Opposition Leader Roy McTaggart and Deputy Opposition Leader Joey Hew on Radio Cayman

(CNS): The Progressives are not planning to push for a no-confidence vote in the government, despite the ever-growing differences within PACT, Opposition Leader Roy McTaggart and his deputy, Joey Hew, revealed last week and implied that they are, instead, watching and waiting for the coalition of independents to implode. Hew said the Progressives were not interested in “forming a government for the sake of forming a government”.

Speaking on Radio Cayman’s For the Record on Friday, McTaggart and Hew told the host, Orrett Connor, that they have no intention of trying to form a new government with the two non-PPM opposition MPs, Chris Saunders and Dwayne Seymour, plus another MP from the current government line-up.

However, Roy McTaggart said the events in parliament last month demonstrated the great “division and discord” that exists among the members of government.

“At the end of the day, no amount of dressing up in pink ties and dresses” will make a difference, he said, referring to the matching outfits that government MPs wore last Tuesday after Seymour resigned and narrowed Premier Wayne Panton’s majority. “Whatever they do, it’s the actions that speak louder than appearances,” he added.

“The premier has a problem, and I don’t know how he is going to fix it,” McTaggart said, noting that Panton was now down to ten seats in the House, excluding the speaker. “He’s got to be feeling very uncomfortable in that position, given the performance of his government to date… To me, it is a very tenuous situation.”

Hew said the loss of one more member would leave a hung parliament, adding that they had expected more members to cross the floor after Seymour’s resignation before PACT apparently regrouped the following weekend.

David Wight’s Facebook post

A picture had been circulated on social media by Progressive MP David Wight (GTW) of Saunders, Seymour and the PPM members, labelled “Government in waiting???” but Hew denied that this meant they were attempting to bring PACT down. Rather, he said, they had met to discuss the supplementary appropriations that were being requested by the government.

He said the opposition had been expecting the premier to reshuffle his Cabinet. However, Panton had instead given a very challenging ministry to one of the least experienced members of his coalition, and PACT appeared once again to rally.

Hew said the PPM was more concerned about the state of government finances, and they were not supporting a no-confidence motion. “We are not looking to form a government for the sake of forming a government,” he said, adding that this might be jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

The PPM has refused to form a government that includes McKeeva Bush; all other PACT members are Cabinet ministers, the speaker of the House or the deputy speaker, positions they are unlikely to give up, which would make forming a government challenging.

Hew said the opposition took their constitutional role seriously, even if the government found them irritating. “But we are certainly not here to destabilise the government,” he said. “What is happening within the government is happening in government. It is up to them collectively to resolve the issues.” He urged them to sort things out as people are now waiting on a huge budget, which is giving them cause for concern.

McTaggart said things were very unsettling, and this has played out from time to time in the government. But the next sitting of parliament will be for the budget, and this is going to be a budget for an election year, he noted, and questioned if PACT would manage to complete it on time.

“We are not out to destabilise or to seek to overthrow the government. We took a deliberate step… that we would sit back and let things play out,” McTaggart said. “We will continue to watch.”

Watch the show on Radio Cayman’s YouTube channel below:


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Category: Politics

Comments (65)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Joey the developers friend

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  2. Anonymous says:

    ppm = poor ppl money! lol

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    • Anything is better than PPM says:

      PI$$ POOR Management

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    • can't be bothered says:

      Moses can’t even bother to attend the Parliament. What a representative the brac has. 110 million GC Owen Robert airport improvement and a few thousand for his uncle named airport in the Brac. Take that brackers. stop voting for a name. Live in 21st century. He who has little shall less.

  3. Anonymous says:

    Yeah right Joey, tell somebody else that pile of lies.. That photo on social media said everything then when you found out all you were going to get was John John, then you went on Radio Cayman and back-peddled.

    How long do you think you can keep fooling the people?

    Please retire and don’t bother running for office ever again.

    Cayman is tired of the PPM style politics. Please go away.

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    • Anonymous says:

      You prefer the PACT style of politics? LOL

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      • Anonymous says:

        Prefer to sweep them all out and start over with fresher minds. People who will make mistakes, but hopefully learn from them and make the benefit of Caymanians and other residents their primary goal.

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  4. Anonymous says:

    Someone ask Kenneth what he was up to all weekend? He had Julie ready to take Premiership with him as Deputy Premier.

    Joey is right! PPM want no part of this mess!

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    • Anonymous says:

      Yet they were active discusses with multiple members of PACT involving 3 Cabinet members. As usual PPM were greedy and could not close the deal. McTaggart and Hew are now playing spin doctors because they couldn’t close the deal.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Juju and Jay soon cut Panton’s throat by crossing the floor to join Jon Jon as the ppm three amigos

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  5. Anonymous says:

    PPM supercharged development. The same paymasters will be ready to let rip. Watch out Cayman. Lots of asphalt and concrete coming our way.

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  6. Anonymous says:

    The PPM haven’t won an election in years and can’t, because they are toxic.

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  7. Anonymous says:

    PPM taking the same stance as Trump when stating he wasn’t going to debate, interesting.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Please seek help. You are suffering from TDS aka liberal brain malfunction.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Pretty funny 10:54, it’s ok, go ahead and put your hand up in class and declare you don’t get it. 🙄

        It’s been widely documented that Trump chose not to debate because of the risk of exposing himself further if debating his fellow running mates of the inadequacy to be in charge of country, but then if I’m having to explain it kicking the squirrel isn’t so much fun is it

  8. Elvis says:

    More idyats waiting in the wings. Too funny

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  9. Anonymous says:

    Kenny’s asking price too high I guess. Watch out Kenny – JuJu or Jay jump and you may be minister if nothing – holding out for Premier isn’t realistic.

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  10. Anonymous says:

    PACT are just collecting paychecks. They have no possibility of passing any meaningful legislation as they are all only interested in their own agendas and will never agree on anything collectively. A government of internal trade-offs. PPM for all of their faults have 100 x the brain power and are well aware the remaining members of the farce government are just trying to see out their single term.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Did you listen to the last meeting of the house and how many pieces of legislation they passed without the help of the PPM?

      The cries from the PPM of Ab..stain, Abstain, Can we have a “division” Madam Speaker? is how the PPM worked this session of Parliament. It this what we are paying them for? The word “division” that they called for consistently aptly explains what the PPM is..

      Maybe next time there is a meeting go sit and watch your all of your members at work..particularly the useless PPM..

      We are paying the PPM to do nothing but sit in their chairs and be disruptive. most times they don’t even show up..Where was Moses and John John?..They were not even there to abstain from voting…

      Something tells me that if the PACT Government can get through a record 9 pieces of legislation in one day and will stay in Parliament until 2am in the morning to get the work done only for the PPM to just abstain from voting or not even show up then it is the PPM that are just collecting their paychecks..

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      • Anonymous says:

        Meaningless legislation.

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      • Anonymous says:

        They went through 10 private member’s motions and 1 government item. Don’t know what world you’re living on, but PACT cannot be credited for more than 9% of the motions reviewed…

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      • Anonymous says:

        That wasn’t legislation. That was financial appropriations, the likes of which have the PACT putting this country into debt!

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        • Anonymous says:

          Sad, when will we recognize the only goal is power and money? I’m just starting to realize why some people don’t even vote. At least their conscience is clear.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Boy you foo foo.

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    • Anonymous says:

      I’d say that if we throw PPM and PACT heads into to a blender we’d still have a major deficit in brain power. We do however seem to have an over abundance of ego and buffoonery between the two clown parties.

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    • Anonymous says:

      All PPM have done is show us their disdain for our people for the past few years. Temper tantrums and abstaining from voting on important national policies (that they themselves failed to implement for 8+ years) have sealed their fate. Not to mention we, the people, paid them to be there doing literally nothing. They know it too, and you can tell by the fact they have all these paid shills on here pretending that anyone with sense is going to actually vote for them in the next election.

      PACT has been a very disappointing shitshow, but simply by way of not giving away tens of millions in concessions to ultra-wealthy foreign developers, it is clear that they are a step in the right direction, away from PPM’s “sell out what’s left of our island ASAP” policies.

      Please remember that Big boss accountant Roy stood up in front of the cameras and admitted that he couldn’t even keep track of how many millions they gave away in concessions, and we’re supposed to believe he’s of sound enough mind to run the country? No, thank you. I’ll try again with another round of independents before I vote for him and his adopted real estate famiglia. Fuggedaboutit.

      You think people want Joey “Who?” when he (as Minister of Commerce, Planning and Infrastructure) and his brother (Richard Hew, big dog in CUC) “allegedly” 🙄 collude to ensure the maximum amount of profits are ripped out of the hands of their own people, while they struggle to even make ends meet? People can’t pay their electric bills, and you think they’re going to vote for the people responsible for increased rates?

      @Emily DeCou: Please run again – you were so close last time on your first try with what seemed to be minimal campaigning. Everyone has seen now that Roy is nothing more than a puppet for that snake Alden, and they have lost whatever (unfounded) confidence they once had in him.

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  11. Ambassador of Absurdistan says:

    Just Another Day in Absurdistan

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  12. Anonymous says:

    We don’t want the PPM back!!!

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    • Anonymous says:

      PPM showed us who they serve over two terms and it’s not the average Caymanian. They are party of the wealthy and happy to give them concessions and help to build a Cayman without Caymanians.

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      • Pete says:

        anon 537 the question appears to be PACT or PPM? which do you think works best.

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        • Anonymous says:

          (said in robotic voice) A strange game. The only winning move is not to play. How about a nice game of chess?

      • Anonymous says:

        And what exactly has PACT done for the “Average Caymanian”? They are quite clearly there to collect their paychecks and do nothing. Where is their agenda to help these “Average Caymanians” you speak of? They haven’t passed any real legislation, rich developers continue to get everything they want, work permits are still given out like candy on Halloween, minimum wage hasn’t gone up and the cost of living is forcing people out of their homes. If the alternative to PPM is doing nothing, why even support them?

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      • Anonymous says:

        And UDPact will turn us into a corrupt lawless Jamaica …With Kenny as our not at all honorable leader.
        No thanks.,,I want a Jamaican free Cayman.

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    • Anonymous says:

      NEVER AGAIN PPM!!!!

      Hoping they get the message before next election and don’t even bother running..

      PPM, Cayman finish with Unna..Try go sit down now.

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  13. Anonymous says:

    They can also sit back and watch the banking sectors demise due to excess fees, regulation and incompetence? We’re are the point were 10 year olds need job letters for chores and two reference letters, one from school and one from a peer.

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  14. Anonymous says:

    PPM, could you please formally ask Wayne about the status of the dump deal? He promised for the umpteenth time that it would be done by the 30th of September – a deadline which has come and gone – again.

    The incessant waffling and excuses from PACT has become tiresome. If they are unable to do their duty and put words into action, then they need to step aside.

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    • Anonymous says:

      They will merely recycle the “value for money” excuse and push the phantom deadline back another few months again. In reality, this is just code for “we have not given this urgent problem any attention because we are too busy fighting each other and pursuing opposing agendas”.

      If a deadline has been pushed back multiple times, is it still a deadline 🤔

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    • Anonymous says:

      Don’t worry because if PPM get back in power they will give in to Dart and every other developer under the sun as long as it helps the PPM. To hell with the average Caymanian, the ME FIRST movement is back!

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    • Anonymous says:

      Let’s not be too anxious to pile on more mistakes. There wasn’t an actionable dump deal submitted by PPM’s meritlessly awarded winning bidder. That’s not on PACT, and glad they are not blindly signing things like the PPM did for years. Dart still hasn’t honored the NRA deal from 2016. Why aren’t Caymanians taking issue with all those stolen promises?

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      • Anonymous says:

        PACT Government took office in April 2021 which is two and a half years of kicking this can down the road whilst the dump becomes bigger and more expensive to fix.

        This is clearly not a case of “blindly singing things” like you suggest…

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  15. Anonymous says:

    Government in Waiting simply
    Means “Opposition” in Parliamentary terms

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  16. Anonymous says:

    I wouldn’t be in a rush to take over this mess either, once the Government sets the budget any Government formed prior to the next election would be bound by that budget and I can already predict this budget is going to be another PACT spending spree. Joey is right, let the PACT fight their way thru the next two years and take their licks even if the licks are coming from within!

    I am
    Praying for a PPM Government in 2025 made up of all card carrying PPM members.

    NO MORE INDEPENDENT GOVERNMENT it’s a contradiction in terms to say the least!

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    • Pete says:

      you know it may not be PPm but as you said the PACT government sure proved that an independents based government is a disaster.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Nah gonna happen son. No more PPM.

      I would vote for independents ten times over again before I would vote for one PPM member..and believe it or not I was a card carrying member of the PPM up until 5 years ago. Like many of us that signed on with the PPM at the start, we all know that the party no longer stands for what it once did and we all know it cannot be saved with the bunch of greedy clowns we have running it now.

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    • Anonymous says:

      PACT inherited all (and there were many) failures of the PPM and UDP/CDP. Let’s not forget how we were failed repeatedly for decades.

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  17. Anonymous says:

    Honorable Hew is our future as he is an extremely well educated and articulate young Caymanian.

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    • Joey Who? says:

      🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

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    • Anonymous says:

      @3:26pm…Love your sense of humor. 🙂

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    • Anonymous says:

      Hew has zero formal qualifications and education.
      He has only worked for family businesses bankrolled by the most famous celebrity from Cayman Brac that became a superstar for all the wrong reasons.

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  18. Anonymous says:

    Pot calls
    Kettle black

    Same as it ever was

    Please Cayman, we need 20 new faces

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  19. Anonymous says:

    just when you thought things could not get any worse….joey goes to prove that ppm are as bad in opposition as they were in government.

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  20. Anonymous says:

    do-nothing-ppm or no-plan-pact?????….neither thanks.
    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.

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  21. Anonymous says:

    wow…some things never change…do-nothing-ppm currently doing nothing!

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    • Anonymous says:

      If it wasn’t for the PPM holding PACTs foot to the fire we would be in a far worse position. If Wayne Panton had any sense he would call Roy McTaggart and ask to come across with Andre, Sabrina, Heather, and Isaac and form a new PPM Government with Roy and Joey as leaders. All were part of the PPM and Isaac was supported by them.

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