Mac admits constituency ‘giveaways’
(CNS): McKeeva Bush
McKeeva Bush (CDP), West Bay West MLA Speaker of the LA, Leader of the Cayman Democratic Party. Biography: Bush is the longest serving member and..., the veteran MP for West Bay West who is under pressure to resign from his prestigious office as speaker after his conviction for a violent assault, has fuelled further scandal with a social media post admitting controversial ‘giveaways’ to constituents. From kids bicycles to turkeys, voters in West Bay were treated to numerous gifts this Christmas, but Bush said he was not ashamed of what he has given to voters.
“I’m not ashamed that I give to mostly the seniors in need, and mostly in my district and I have done this all the time,not only in an Election year,” Bush stated openly on his Facebook page.
In a long posting, in which he claimed numerous achievements during his three decade long political career, Bush hit out at the critics. He said those criticising him over what many see as vote buying handouts were “foreign nationals chatting away making insulting remarks and just talking what they don’t know”.
Bush posted, “I know some of them – they are really nobodies and in Canada or other countries they wouldn’t even be looked at by their elected representatives much less having so much say trying to tell us what to do!!”
The West Bay MP also hit out at the local press adding, “Let me say to them including those who claim to write for so call media, You don’t know cayman and has done nothing for our people. It seems some of you want to interfere far too much and put things in place here that made your countries a rotten place to live.”
While Bush seemed to be railing largely against what he called “newcomers”, much of the current opposition to his behaviour regarding allegations of vote buying and the calls for his resignation over the attack on Livia Kwong, the manager of Coral Bay Beach, have come from Caymanians and several of his own constituents.
Speaking about the upcoming election, he said there was a lot of talk about solutions but he was glad he had been brought up to be “honest and to work hard and to help others.That is my mantra!!! I have worked for the good of one and all.!I have Helped young people to get an education,to get scholarships and other funding, to get jobs, to get homes and to have a better quality of life.”
Bush said his support over the lat four years for the coalition government had helped to keep Cayman safe but there was much more to be done for the years ahead. “I’m willing to continue to play my role if my people want me,” he said before listing what he said were his achievements.
He made no mention of the current scandal surrounding him over the assault conviction. Bush has refused to give up his prestigious post as speaker, despite the details of the drunken attack and the messages he sent in its wake, using obscenities and hate speech, now being public.
Government members have largely remained silent on the issue and the premier has argued that keeping the government together was more important than removing Bush from the role as speaker. Nevertheless, a no confidence motion has been filed by Opposition Leader Arden McLean.
CNS has contacted the premier about a meeting for that motion to be debated and we are awaiting a response. We have also contacted all sitting members about Bush’s position and his behaviour, and with the exception of Ezzard Miller, who seconded the motion, no MPs appear willing to go on record about this incident.
Some MPs have responded to their constituents’ inquiries but so far few have made any public declaration over Bush’s conviction for a violent assault on a woman. Despite the conviction and his admissions in court, Bush claims he has no memory of the drunken attack, while continuing to claim he was the victim of an attack, despite evidence to the contrary.
During his time in office Bush has been involved in a number of positive ventures and has certainly helped many families with direct support allegedly paying mortgages, bills and even college fees. But he has also been dogged by controversy.
From the infamous Stan Thomas fax, which appeared on its face to be Bush asking a land owner for a payment for land re-zoning, to his corruption trial, in which he was acquitted but not before the extent of his gambling problem was revealed, the veteran politician has never been far from scandal.
In his post, however, Bush claims that he has “made enemies in ‘high places ‘that ‘dog’ me until today”, not because of the controversies but because of the hard work and battles he has won for Caymanians against the powerful and wealthy, his battles with the UK and for his gains for the offshore sector.
“I know now, that any chance,wherever they can get a chance to embarrass me,they will do so,” he said.
Saying that he would be offering more solutions over the forthcoming campaign, he concluded by stating, “What people ought to know is I also have no problem in dealing with issues as I’m confronted with them!!”
While he has previously stated that he is not seeking to be premier again or even a front-bench minister, Bush has confirmed that he will be seeking re-election in West Bay West.
However, he has not addressed the issue of alignment and whether or not he will continue to support the current coalition government or whether he will be resurrecting his Cayman Democratic Party, a revamped version of the United Democratic Party, the platform Bush and various aligned candidates have run on since the 2005 election.
Category: Election News
