Premier remains silent over governance vacuum

(CNS): Twenty-four hours after half of her Cabinet and one backbencher resigned, leaving the government without a functioning majority, Premier Julianna O’Connor-Connolly has failed to address the country, though CNS understands that she held closed-door meetings with the opposition yesterday. The premier’s silence is not unusual, and this is not the first time that the UPM leader has dodged the voters in the face of major divisions in her administration.

On Friday morning, officials from the Department of Communications told the press that they were not expecting the premier’s office to release a statement. “Nothing for this morning,” the spokesperson stated when asked if the premier would be addressing the country.

However, McKeeva Bush, who is understood to have played a significant part in causing the exit of four members of government, remains the only person in government so far to have spoken to the press, including CNS.

He told us what he believes are the key issues that caused the latest crisis. These include Wayne Panton’s controversial loan to Sabrina Turner to help her buy a million-dollar-plus home, issues over proposals for cruise berthing, and the UPM’s attack on the National Conservation Act.

When he appeared on Radio Cayman on Friday, he said the government had not yet reached the stage where it will need to call an early general election, even though the UPM has lost four, possibly five, of its eleven members. It is still not known if Bernie Bush will cross the floor when he returns to the Cayman Islands.

With the departure of three ministers from her Cabinet — André Ebanks (financial services and social development), Turner (health and home affairs), and Katherine Ebanks-Wilks (climate) — the premier has a significant problem on her hands unless she can cobble together a new coalition with the Progressives. To do this, she would have to offer those vacant ministries as bargaining chips.

Bush accused the four who resigned of being “conniving and deceitful” as he detailed how the conservation bill was handed over to Dwayne Seymour, which became the first of the problems at Tuesday’s caucus meeting. Ebanks-Wilks has disagreed with the changes to the NCA that other Cabinet members, including Planning Minister Jay Ebanks and Seymour, have pushed for as a result of lobbying by developers.

Bush spoke about the changes he wanted to see, though he erroneously stated that the director of the Department of Environment is chair of the National Conservation Council. Stuart Mailer chairs the NCC, and DoE Director Gina Ebanks-Petrie is one of four ex-officio voting members.

Bush said the departed members also objected to a move to prevent the NCC from using the courts when a government entity breaches its obligation. However, this power is fundamental to the NCC’s ability to enforce the law.

The Central Planning Authority has broken the law on several occasions regarding environmental issues related to planning applications. Because the planning minister has failed to direct the politically appointed board to follow the law, the DoE has been forced to seek direction from the court to protect Cayman’s natural resources on behalf of the people.