7 weeks from election, still no party manifestos
(CNS): It’s less than seven weeks until the 2025 General Election, but none of the three parties hoping to secure a majority government on 30 April have produced a manifesto. Despite calls from the voting public for these documents, the CINP, the TCCP and the PPM have all failed to produce details of their policies and how they plan to resolve the multitude of problems and crises facing the Cayman Islands.
All three parties have similar reasons for waiting to produce a manifesto, but there are also questions about whether they’re even relevant in Cayman’s election landscape.
Manifestos are clearly less relevant for candidates going it alone. They are not in a position to deliver on any campaign promises without any colleagues supporting them in what they say they want to do. Voters often select independent candidates for other reasons and not necessarily their proposed national policies, such as constituency problems or as a vote against an incumbent representative they feel has failed them.
The only manifestos published so far in this election cycle are by independent candidates Rolston Anglin (see here) and Jermaine Ebanks-Hurlston (see here), who are both running for the vacant seat of West Bay North.
Anglin told CNS he believes he can deliver on his manifesto commitments if he is able to join a government. He claimed that the basic policies he is advocating for are sound and would be supported by whoever his government colleagues might be.
Ebanks-Hurlston has also produced a fairly detailed manifesto but, like Anglin, he has not indicated that he has secured the support of any other candidates running in the other 18 seats so that, if elected, he could deliver on his promises.
While the parties have yet to issue their manifestos, most have published documents, websites or flyers offering some idea about their priorities and indications on how they might deliver them, the most detailed so far being the PPM’s website. However, these texts tend to define the broad problems that everyone knows exist but provide few details on how they will tackle these issues.
None of the parties have revealed their specific plans for the most pressing problems, such as how they would deliver a waste-management solution or increase renewable energy, or laid out their positions on the major projects currently on the table, such as the East-West Arterial Road extension or the redevelopment of the general aviation terminal at the Owen Roberts International Airport.
CNS reached out to all three parties about their manifestos, and although all of them plan to publish one in the next few weeks, they have been unclear on the reasons for the delay. A common theme is that the parties are looking to the voters to tell them what they want them to do rather than the other way around.
Historically, policies have not often been the basis on which political parties have been formed in the Cayman Islands. Alliances and teams were the norm for many decades until 2005 when the two formal political parities that emerged in the wake of the 2001 Cabinet coup — the UDP under McKeeva Bush
McKeeva Bush (WBW incumbent) is the longest-serving member of parliament (the “Father of the House”), having represented West Bay continuously for three decades. More and the PPM led by Kurt Tibbetts — duked it out on the hustings and both published manifestos in an attempt to differentiate themselves.
The PPM won in 2005 and has fielded a slate of candidates under its banner in every election since. The United Democratic Party won in 2009 but collapsed in 2012 following Bush’s arrest on charges of abuse of office. Even though he was eventually acquitted, the party never re-emerged, though many of its members have continued in local politics, often as independents.
There are currently three former UDP members running on the PPM ticket: Juliana O’Connor-Connolly
Juliana O'Connor-Connolly (CBE incumbent) is running with the PPM. She is the current premier and has been minister of education since May 2017. More, Dwayne Seymour and Pearlina McGaw Lumsden. Meanwhile, Bush and former UDP members Anglin and Chris Saunders are running as independent candidates.
Robert Bodden, who is contesting this election with The Caymanian Community Party, campaigned for office with Bush in the short-lived rehash of the UDP, the Cayman Democratic Party, in 2017.
With parties and alliances largely dependent on personalities, aligned adherence to a particular policy agenda has not often played a part in election campaigns here, and the manifestos are more akin to a wish list rather than a plan for governance.
A spokesperson for the CINP told CNS that the party has been approaching the manifesto process differently.
“Instead of a few bigwigs sitting in a vault dreaming up pie in the sky ‘solutions’, the manifesto is being built through active conversations with voters and stakeholders in various industry sectors to identify the pain points,” a party surrogate said.
“CINP has a brains trust in the background, talking to the right people, creating work streams for each of the core issues which include the candidates who have experience in those areas, people in the public and private sector who live and experience it every day.”
This was described as a deliberate and thoughtful process that takes time. “It isn’t something you can or should just confine to a paragraph as a band-aid fix. We’ve seen manifestos over the years that say all the right things, but don’t actually do anything,” the spokesperson added.
The Progressives are also still working on their manifesto, which will be officially launched in three weeks, just three and a half weeks or so before the election. Kenneth Bryan, the PPM’s new deputy leader and candidate for George Town Central, said the party would release its manifesto at Compass Green on Saturday, 5 April, and the public would be able to see how “we’re going to make Cayman the best country in the world”.
Bryan said he joined the last government, made up of people with “different political ideas”, in 2021 because he hoped it would work but the failure to align and share common platforms was part of its downfall.
“While we tried our absolute best, the reality is our government was pulling in many different directions and we could not function appropriately,” Bryan said at the PPM campaign launch last weekend
There is now a push for parties with a policy platform but publishing it is still not something the parties are rushing to produce on paper.
Check out the CNS Election Section interactive map to see who is running in each constituency.
See the list of candidates and their party affiliations here.
Category: Election News
Change writes: Every constituency has the same issue when their MP becomes a minister. It is not that they stop caring about their area, but Cabinet members have no choice but to tackle issues at national level, and that takes budget, meetings, reports, travel, conference calls, sitting with lawyers to streamline bills and laws — all […]
1. How soon after they are elected will they fix the damn dump?
2. How soon after they are elected will the Leaf Blower ban take effect?
3. How soon after they are elected will the feral chicken cull begin?
4. How soon after they are elected will all unsightly and illegal billboards be removed from our once beautiful islands?
5. How soon after they are elected will Kenny World and Kenny Beach be shut down?
These are the top five issues plaguing us today and we need answers!
ALL parties should have as their core agenda those same four can-kicked-down-the-road vital issues which affect all citizens and residents: 1)Horrific cost of health care and health insurance, 2)out-of-control cost of living, 3)Mount Trashmore and real recycling for all three islands, and 4)comfortable, safe and reliable public transportation.
Anything else they spend our money on is contrary to that which truly matters for us, our children, and theirs. You want to obligate us to repaying a multimillion dollar loan for decades that doesn’t benefit but 2% of the population? You have lost your compass pointing to the people who have paid their dues, but are needlessly suffering.
I agree with you, 2:13pm. I would add place a moratorium on some categories of work permits until all Caymanians who are qualified and willing to work in those industries have secured a position with reasonable remuneration.
Why run if you have not:
Run into an excavator
Beaten up or insulted the modesty of a lady
Been done for drunk driving
Been a director of a bank that was liquidated
Made huge profits from sales at a major hotel
Crossed the floor many times
Kept your constitution in the dark
Driven a heavy duty machine in the Brac without an appropriate licence
Lied in Parliament
You do not have the right qualifications
And you’re PPM..
Sold crack.
Thank you thank you Wayne Panton for calling out a few truths about Dumdum and Saunders.
Good to have confirmation that Dumbdum is indeed a complete idiot , and Saunders a self important snake.
Showing up at 3pm for an 11o’clock meeting then falling asleep…a real leader.
That is what PPM now is…do we really need any more from these uneducated fools.?
Don’t vote for ANY PPM for all our sakes.
Wayne knew full well who those same people well when he begged them to join him so he could take power. He is just as bad if not worse.
I want to know the parties’ political positions. Do they lean more conservative or progressive based on their policies? I’ve been assuming that TCCP is a bit more progressive based on their environmental and social stances, and PPM seems a bit more conservative on those issues (like having many candidates that want a cruise port, and don’t care for environmental assessments on projects like the Newlands bypass extension). I don’t know about CINP. I think it would be good to give us more insight into the candidates’ intentions. Do they believe in investing more into financial assistance programs? Or do they want to cut things like that? What are their positions on LGBTQ+ issues? What are their stances free healthcare? Raising minimum wage? Etc.
I agree with you but the parties do not want to spell out any positions. They want to be able to tell all prospective voters, no matter their views, that their party agrees with them.
You’re assuming the candidates understand those concepts, and would be willing to put their agenda in writing .
Dumbdum manifesto would be “ I just want to collek a big paycheck”.
Saunders would want independence.
Mac and Kenneth would arrange for CHEC to build cruise piers.
Ju Ju would want world 5 star travels with her bodyguard.
You can do the rest…. but don’t vote PPM.
Government staff here are the most restricted in the Free World!
They can’t even Like or Comment on social media political posts, yet the big rules list say they “have the right to be informed”.
What century are we living in!!
The PPM’s candidate for deputy premier’s formal endorsement of Mac in WB says a lot about what they will do if elected and why they do not want to put anything in writing.
This is very disappointing. The serious issues of national importance that should be central to both candidates and voters decision making have been obvious for years. Parliamentary candidates and parties that have not developed a manifesto at this point have neither the collective intelligence nor the competence to solve these issues.
I am going to as many meetings as I can (everybody’s!) and talking to the candidates. I want to feel their handshake, look them in the eyes and ask them the tough national questions and hear what they think about them. I don’t need them to promise me they’ll fix a pothole or such other menial matters.
A manifesto is nothing but a PR tool. Glossy photos — a CV. Would you hire someone to manage your billion-dollar company without interviewing them at least once? If you would, then wait for manifestos.
If candidates are not willing to address all of the issues facing our country in writing in a manifesto, they are either too lazy or not competent to govern.
I certainly would not hire anyone to manage any business without a CV – that would be idiotic, even if they have a firm handshake.
To 10:51pm: How many times have we seen manifestos and yet the issues are not addressed at root level? I respect everyone’s positions, but a manifesto means nothing to me.
Meanwhile, I read Jermaine Ebanks-Hurlston’s (WBN), manifesto, and it is impressive. He breaks down the issues and proposes solutions. It’s doing the rounds via WA. Check it out.
I think it is pretty clear what PPM’s manifesto is based on the fact that they have invited Juju and Kenny (and other goons in the current lame duck government) to their camp:
Build a cruise pier despite the populace clearly objecting to it because Kenny’s donors demand it
Build Kenny’s ridiculous park that no one asked for (noting that there is not even any well functioning reliable public transport here)
Enrich themselves and their donors
Build a ridiculous 500m dollar school in the Brac for 100 school children (without any attempt to even vaguely be on budget or get value for money) Spend 100s of millions more on what looks like a concrete jail to house the workers to build said school.
Bribe voters in the public sector by giving out ‘ex gratia’ payments or increasing civil service pension salaries
Bankrupt the Cayman Islands with reckless spending and blame it on expatriates or other scape goats
Hmmm. I work for any salary increase I get. I still nah voting for them.
The “bill” is even more profound than that: The 300 or so workers that will be building the resort high school on the Brac will never go home. That’s right. All government work will be direct to Phoenix, who will find makework for the crews and they will stay and not go back to Jamaica when the job is done. NOthing against them — they are just trying to make their way in the world, but once the eventually huge capital project is done, they should be sent back home. Nevermind that they were sole-sourced from Jamaica without any bidding process.
Are there anymore Caymanian construction companies that employ Caymanians? I think that ship has sailed. This is what our politicians have done to us.
I don’t need a manifesto.. I know they know what is needed.
What I want is a statement that they will not form a government with Mac Kenneth Saunders Juju and Dumdum.
That group will get my vote.
Mac and Kenneth are not hiding their alliance now, after Kenneth was guest speaker at Mac’s rally in West Bay.
PPM now openly a Mac and Kenneth party carrying with them the dregs at the bottom of the barrel.
It is very disappointing that none of the parties have produced manifestos. It leaves this young voter with the view that none of them have a clue what they will do if elected other than fatten their wallets.
To 6:45pm In reality, you are better off reaching out to any or all candidates directly, and asking them about what matters to you. They all are willing to answer a phone call or Whattsapp. It is in their best interest to do so. (Although after the election, the story changes)