Register lag means no election before April

(CNS): The UPM government is now expected to limp on for almost five more months as the governor is unlikely to call a general election on behalf of the premier before 1 April to prevent disenfranchising new voters. The current election law, which the government has been advised to change, provides a three-month review period for checks on all new voters after they register. The deadline to make the 1 April electoral roll is 1 January, as the deadline for the New Year register has already passed.

This means that if an election was called before April, anyone who has registered to vote since 30 September will not make the electoral roll that will be confirmed for the election. As a result, the earliest date now would be in April, with parliament being prorogued in February.

Although the lag in the register leaves what is effectively a lame-duck minority government in place, the opposition members and the four MPs who resigned last week are in support of propping up the UPM administration to allow the basic functions of government to continue. However, they will not support any contentious legislation.

Following the PPM’s announcement on Monday night that they were prepared to support the government’s need for a quorum so parliament can meet to tackle non-contentious issues, such as amendments to financial services legislation, Andre Ebanks MP offered his support. He said that after speaking with Opposition Leader Joey Hew MP, he agreed that supporting the minority UPM Government was the best way to proceed for the sake of stability.

“The Leader of the Opposition, Mr Joey Hew and I spoke, and we also concur on the matter of attending Parliament later this year to consider important financial services legislation, which will include amendments to increase financial services licence fees that will allow the Government to collect higher revenue in 2025,” he said.

“MPs Heather Bodden, Katherine Ebanks-Wilks, Sabrina Turner and I all share the view that the next general election should be as early as practicable in 2025, so that the people of the Cayman Islands can choose to elect a new group of principled leaders committed to good governance, professionalism, innovation and a shared vision to take our three Islands forward to a brighter future for this and future generations of Caymanians,” Ebanks added.

Hew stated Monday night that the opposition would not support any contentious legislation,0 and party officials have confirmed that this includes the controversial and unpopular changes the UPM had planned for the National Conservation Act.

Anyone who wants to vote in the 2025 General Election who is not already registered has until New Year’s Day to make that electoral role. At the moment, there are 23,529 people on the register, though there are estimated to be around 6,000 more people who are eligible to vote but have not yet done so.

For more information on registering to vote go to the elections website.