Speaker shuts down budget debate early
(CNS): Speaker McKeeva Bush took a hard stand with opposition member Joey Hew (GTN) on Monday night, when he ruled that he stood too late and threw the debate back to Finance Minister Chris Saunders to wrap up. Bush accused MPs of playing games, as it is common for opposition members to wait until the final moment before getting to their feet in a bid to push government ministers into debate.
The speaker denied not giving members a chance to speak when he called on the finance minister to wind it up, despite the fact that Hew appeared to rise just as he made his final call.
While this put an end to any further contribution from the opposition, other than the response from Opposition Leader Roy McTaggart, it also closed down the debate for three ministers and the government’s own back-benchers.
This means the public will now have to listen to the entire Finance Committee or work out for themselves the details of how the education minister, who has one of the biggest budgets of all Cabinet members, the minister for social affairs and financial services, as well as the home affairs minister will be spending their allocation of public cash.
Seemingly caught unawares by the speaker’s apparent failure to see Hew rise, Saunders was also unprepared to wrap up the debate and even asked the speaker to give way to Hew. But Bush said he had called “many times and the game is being played out, and as presiding officer, I have had enough of it”.
The speaker said that the GTN member had risen after he called for the third time. Hew did not press the issue, but since Saunders was not ready to submit his closing remarks for the debate, the House was adjourned.
Afterwards, Hew told CNS that he felt he stood before the final call.
“However, even if I were slow in standing, the speaker earlier in the day made up to five calls without calling on the mover to close the debate so as to encourage the Government members to speak,” Hew told CNS via Message. “I am not sure what his motive or reasons was for not recognising me. If it was personal it doesn’t offend me however he should not deny the people of George Town North with their democratic right to have a voice in the Parliament. It just so happened they elected me to be that voice.”
The speaker had given three clear calls following the leader of the opposition’s contribution Monday morning, and there were no takers from the government benches. At that point, Bush opted to call the lunch break rather than close down the debate, giving members the chance to speak.
When they returned from lunch, Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan came to his feet after a full three calls and after Bush called on the financial services minister. At that point, the speaker said he was giving some latitude in the face of the reluctance of new members to speak.
Hew, the deputy leader of the Progressives, added that it was “very unusual that first time ministers didn’t want to take the opportunity to give their first budget debate and lay out their plans for next two years”.
During the course of Monday’s proceedings following the opposition leader’s response to the budget, only the ministers for tourism, health and planning presented their plans for the next two years.
In another unusual event for the day, Planning Minister Jay Ebanks, during his address, reached out to former health minister Dwayne Seymour, echoing an invitation first made by Saunders when he presented the Budget Address on Friday.
Both men very publicly praised Seymour, the opposition member for Bodden Town East, thanked him for various alleged actions of support and invited him to join government, though it was not clear why, given that PACT already has the numbers it needs to retain the majority.
Seymour has a comfortable majority in his BTE constituency, but he has no special political skills, technical experience or even an outstanding record following his tenure as the health minister that would single him out from his colleagues on the opposition benches. However, he is the only member of the opposition who is not a fully paid up member of the Progressives and has retained his political independence.
CNS has contacted the premier to ask if the invitation is part of a government desire to have Seymour join their ranks, and we are awaiting a response. We have also contacted Seymour directly about his view of the invitation, and likewise we have not yet heard from him.
Parliament resumes the budget meeting at 10am Wednesday.
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Category: Politics
With no disrespect. Oh my maybe it is all about political salvation again.
lol! Joey Who??
Wouldn’t want to miss happy hour.
The scariest part isn’t that there are machinations in the background. That’s politrix. The scary part is that Duhwayne The Brain is seen as useful!
Seems like something fishy is going on with Chris, Jay and Dwayne – the public will soon find out.
Wonder why Dwayne didn’t join Pact from the beginning, when they needed that extra person to form a government?
Some photos want to make me gag, so does hearing the honorific title ‘Honourable’ in relation to despicable people.
Give credit where it is due, there have been no news reports of anybody in a wig beating women in the last few weeks.
Not officially.
Wayne’s gift to the nation, a gift that keeps on giving….
The Mac attack strikes again! Big up Mr. Speaker!
I know, right. Can you imagine making McKeeva sound reasonable – ‘none of you seem to want to speak and I’m tired of it’. – Since either side of the aisle could have had someone stand up, but apparently no one was ready to.
DART and Imperato must be upset their man no go joe couldn’t sort himself out to do their bidding in parliament
PACT just signed a partnership agreement with Dart
If there was any decency in this world Wigman would not be there at all or at least would be required to sit facing into an out of sight corner.
Poor Joey couldn’t figure out what papers to read so missed his chance
Big Mac did the same thing to the opposition when he was the PPM led Unity government Speaker. Too slow Joe fails the people of Cayman again.
Not the Speakers first beat down…..
Boys will be boys…
Well Jay Ebanks and Dwayne Seymour are family so that is the cause for the praise. Dwayne endorsed Jay during the elections as it was believed at that time that Jay was working with the Progressives.
and I understand that Jay and Keewa are also family, biologically and philosophically speaking.
Sounds like Mac, Jay and Saunders are trying to break away from Wanye and start a new alliance that would make either Mac or Saunders Premier. If Wayne and Andre had done the right thing and what most people voting for them expected in terms forming a government we wouldn’t be in this hot mess. But Wayne’s snake and Andre’s a coward. He is to blame for putting Mac back in power even though he is only speaker…for now. Wonder how cmr is going to help him out of this?
Joke Joke will jumping ship joining Chris and Jay in the non-impact government to challenge Wayne’s authority in cabinet
What a disaster and goodbye Cayman if that happens! Just as you thought things couldn’t get worse….
We pay for this buffoonery? Mac encouraging opaqueness, we’ll that’s nothing new. But asking the back bench, dunce master to join government, now that’s an all time low. The only thing that Mac could have said better is little boys should be seen and not heard.
These guys are clowns and McKeeva is McKeeva, not much else to say here.
What an ornament to our democracy this speaker is.
So very, very honourable.
JTB – Dumocracy! That’s what it is!