Rollie reveals path to power for NCFC

(CNS): Rolston “Rollie” Anglin (WBN) has said that despite the inducements on offer from the “others”, he and his fellow independent colleagues in the new government had opted to join forces with the CINP and TCCP and did not talk to any other group about forming a coalition. He said that weeks earlier, he, Isaac Rankine and Jay Ebanks had spoken about what was best for the Cayman Islands, given the pressure they would face once they were elected.

“We did not go out and play political games or try to shop around for the best deal,” he told a lively crowd that came out for the public meeting in West Bay on Saturday night, hosted by all four of the district’s elected MPs.

Although the PPM candidates won seven seats, even with the committed support of independent MP Chris Saunders, they did not have enough seats to form a government. The TCCP and CINP both secured four seats each and were always likely to merge as they had run on similar policy platforms. As a result, who Ebanks, Rankine and Anglin chose to align with was fundamental to the formation of a majority coalition.

Three of Rankine and Ebanks’ UPM political allies had secured their wins under the PPM banner, and there was an expectation that they might join forces with them. However, there were a number of problems associated with that possible alliance.

Firstly, Jay Ebanks had roundly defeated the PPM candidate, Justin Ebanks, in their head-to-head race for North Side, and he would have had a great deal of explaining to do to his voters if he had immediately joined that party.

Secondly, Rankine’s relationship with the PPM leadership was not great. The Progressives had assisted Rankine’s 2021 campaign on the grounds that he would join them after that election. But in the horse-trading that followed, Rankine had gone back and forth between the two groups, signing a deal with the PPM, only to renege on it days later and join PACT.

Furthermore, while the PPM would certainly have been interested in recruiting Anglin into the mix, having two more former UPM cabinet members on the PPM team could have led to an internal takeover of the party leadership by that group, a possible outcome that would not have gone unnoticed by the party leader, Joey Hew.

Explaining to the people of West Bay how the coalition came together, Anglin said that, as “experienced candidates”, the three independent members who will be in the new National Coalition for Caymanians (NCFC) were aware of the “pressures that would hit” once they were declared winners.

“In that moment, you can make seriously drastic mistakes for your country,” Anglin said. So, after the results were in, it was an easy decision for the three of them to meet with the Cayman Islands National Party and then the TCCP because they believed that was the will of the people.

And the numbers backed him, he added, noting that collectively, the CINP and the TCCP secured far more of the national vote than the Progressives. Addressing PPM Leader Joey Hew’s derogatory description of the coalition as a “marriage of convenience”, he said that across the Cayman Islands, it was clear that voters had rejected that party.

He said TCCP had won a collective 4,953 votes and the CINP had won 3,596 votes, while the PPM had secured 5,280 votes. Together, the CINP and the TCCP represented a much larger slice of the popular vote.

“Our decision was the will of the country,” he said. “We made the right choice… We were not going to play political games, so that’s why we took the opportunity given to us seriously.”

Anglin dismissed the idea that they had run around trying to trade. Rather, they had met with the two political parties that had received the biggest share of the national vote.

“I won’t get into the unsolicited offers,” he said, explaining that they had stood firm based on the simple fact that the numbers were clear. He said they had been willing to check egos, put aside the campaign rhetoric and form the government because it was in the best interests of the Cayman Islands.

Anglin, who is expected to become the education and finance minister, also warned that there were tough times ahead and asked for patience as the coalition gets the country back on track.

Anglin is beginning his fourth term in office. He was first elected in 2000 as the youngest-ever elected member of parliament. In 2005, he ran as a member of the UDP and after being successfully re-elected, he served in the opposition for that administration.

After winning again in 2009, he served as the education and labour minister in the UDP administration. However, on 11 December 2012, the premier, McKeeva Bush, was arrested for a number of alleged offences. Following his arrest, his former Cabinet colleagues supported a no-confidence motion filed by the opposition in the Legislative Assembly, which resulted in the downfall of the UDP administration.

The PPM, then in opposition, agreed to support the remaining Cabinet members in a minority government by offering to ensure that there would be a quorum in the Legislative Assembly. The governor agreed to appoint Juliana O’Connor-Connolly as the new premier to head the government until the general election on 22 May 2013.

The minority government members, O’Connor-Connolly, Anglin, Dwayne Seymour, Mark Scotland and Cline Glidden, formed the People’s National Alliance (PNA) to run as a group in the May 2013 General Election. However, O’Connor-Connolly was the only member of that party to win a seat.

All 19 candidates who were returned to office last Wednesday and Ezzard Miller, who has been chosen from outside the House to be speaker, will be sworn in this afternoon during an official ceremony at the House of Parliament, starting inside at 2:00pm. This will be followed by the swearing-in of Cabinet members outside the building and an address from the new premier, André Ebanks, setting out the broad goals of the new coalition.

The proceedings will also be broadcast on the government’s social media channels.

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