Bryan unaware referendum law will tackle finance rules

(CNS): Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan has said he was unaware whether or not the legislation being drafted in preparation for the three-question referendum on General Election Day will tackle the issue of campaign financing or even if it needs to. Yet the Cayman Islands Government, using public cash, will coordinate the education and awareness campaign on the three issues the people will be asked to vote on.

While it has been less vocal on its position over the lottery and ganja, the CIG is clearly in support of a ‘yes’ vote on the cruise question.

If the CIG does not regulate the referendum campaign financing, it can use the full resources of the state to promote whatever position it chooses. Those campaigning for a ‘no’ on any one of the three subjects, including building cruise piers, will need to finance it themselves.

At a press conference on the issue on Wednesday, Bryan said he hadn’t “been advised from legal in respect to what’s in the bill”, as the bill was still in draft form until after the motion was debated and passed in parliament. He said he was “not aware that campaign financing has to be addressed in the bill” and that he did not want to address the subject until then.

“I am well aware of persons’ perceptions that the government could be using the public’s purse to persuade persons what to vote for. I think the government has been very diligent in trying to ensure we are approaching this in a balanced way, promoting pros and cons, and respecting the people’s will,” the minister said. “The government is of the view that we should build a pier for the sustainability of the cruise industry, but if the people choose not to, we will not move forward.”

He said the government had not said that it would not present the negatives of building a pier and would present both sides, so it should not be perceived as unfair to use the government Department of Communications for the promotion.

However, he said the government should have the right to promote its own referendum because it was different from a people-initiated referendum, where the argument for controlling financing might be stronger. But he said he didn’t wish to say more and wanted to wait on legal advice.

A government-initiated referendum is non-binding, and the prevailing answer is the one that garners 50% plus one of the actual turnout. In contrast, in a people-initiated referendum, the prevailing answer, which is binding on the government, must be voted on by 50% of the entire electorate plus one, creating a much higher bar.

The government has made it very clear that it supports building a cruise port but has said it will respect the result. However, there is no indication that the members of the UPM intend to campaign as a single group in 2025, given the clear policy differences among them, which means that none of them can speak for whatever new line-up emerges from the post-election horse-trading.

Meanwhile, the Cruise Port Referendum Cayman (CPR) campaigners, who are supporting a ‘no’ vote about building cruise piers, have already raised their concerns about the inequity of a campaign financing where the government has access to the public purse to promote its position while they do not.

Given the CPR’s role in ensuring that the cruise port issue became a public debate and that voters became involved in this momentous decision, it is unfair that they will not have the same resources to present the ‘cons’ of building cruise berthing facilities as the government will have to promote the ‘pros’.

CPR recently stated that without a supporting general referendum law, the legislation being drafted for this specific vote will not be fair if it does not address issues like campaign financing and how public education and awareness is conducted.

Hours after the press briefing, concerns were being raised on CPR’s social media platforms that the first report published by the government to support its position on cruise tourism is biased.

The report, published by the Economics and Statistics Office, is billed as a statistical analysis of current trends, but it was compiled using data from the Port Authority, the Department of Tourism and the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association.