Archive for April, 2009
A politician for the people
(CNS): Calling the last four years of the PPM administration tomfoolery, formerUDP member and Minister Dr Frank McField began his campaign as an independent candidate on Thursday evening when he criticised the incumbents personally and politically, but also had plenty of condemnation for his old party as well. Urging the people to vote independent on 20 May, he said the party system was not part of Caymanian political culture.
Far away from the bright lights and wealth of Seven Mile Beach, McField said he was not welcome in the boardrooms of the rich and the powerful and that he cared about the real people, those who were suffering in the hard economic times. “I am guilty of having too much love for the people,” he said, adding that the PPM had not only mismanaged the country’s finances but they had mismanaged the social issues and turned their backs on the poor.
Saying that he wished he could have done much more for the poor when he was in office, he said he did not have the time to achieve what he wanted. Speaking about the Affordable Housing Initiative, he did not mention the missing $300,000 as revealed in the auditor general’s report on the issue, but criticised the current administration for saying the houses were substandard. He accused the PPM of doing nothing to try and fix them up or build more affordable homes for all the people living in overcrowded conditions.
“The PPM is the worst of the governments George Town people can remember but the PPM still makes fun of the few affordable homes I tried to build,” he said. “The PPM did not build one home for the poor people; they only wanted to destroy what I had built.” He said poor housing and social living conditions went to the heart of all societies as it impacted education since kids can’t learn properly and often led to people finding themselves involved in crime.
“Enlightened people know that those who look after the poor protect the entire nation,
for when the poor have nothing to lose not even the rich are safe. Public safety begins by addressing poverty and the negative social factors poverty breeds.”
He indicated that the current administration was neither enlightened nor intelligent and said the government was not intelligent enough to see the financial crisis coming and the administration was filled with small minded arrogance. He said that Alden McLaughlin had been lauded as the party genius but he was no genius. He had, McField said, gone to school and “memorized a few laws – memory is not education,” he declared.
He also took aim at Charles Clifford who he said had ruined the tourism product and was suffering from a Napoleon complex. “I apologise to short people here, but no one is as short as Charles Clifford; he is short of everything,” he added.
Although McField pulled no punches with his criticism of the PPM he was no less reticent when it came to the members of his former party, the UDP. “Is the UDP of George Town giving us new vision and new opportunities in these serious times or just recycled mediocrity?”
He said the George Town candidates were nice enough people but very inexperienced, with too steep a learning curve ahead of them, and had been chosen by the party leader McKeeva Bush, he said, “to fit McKeeva". He added that they would all be manipulated and dominated by the “West Bayers". He said he spoke from experience and had clashed with Bush many times. “I had to stand up to him a few times and he doesn’t like anyone standing up to him,” McField recalled.
He said he wasnow running alone under the New Vision Movement, which had been around a long time. He explained that he had only joined forces with the UDP because of what happen with the collapse of the government in 2001 and he aligned himself against Kurt Tibbetts rather than with the UDP. He explained it was not common ground but a common enemy that had pushed him into a party and he did not necessarily share the same philosophy with its members. He said the party system in Cayman was immature and had only formed because of the 2001 coup and was not entrenched.
“We need to appreciate and develop democracy within the party system before we can give total control to the parties,” he said. He said that every time he had been elected he had been elected as an independent and had served as an independent in government. He said the people of George Town needed to elect individuals with the courage to stand up for their ideas. He appealed for voters not to let the glitter of party colours con them again.
Blair wants to be first ‘President of EU’
(The Independent): Tony Blair has emerged as the leading candidate to become the first permanent president of the European Union after Gordon Brown gave his grudging blessing to the plan. The former prime minister has stepped up his campaign for the job, which he wants to use to build a bridge between Europe and the new Obama administration. His return to the global stage would be a shock to his critics over the Iraq war and dismay many in Europe. But The Independent on Sunday has learnt that Mr Brown has accepted that his old rival should be in pole position for the appointment, on the basis that Britain needs to have a key figure in the architecture of the "new world order".
Obama’s vision: no nukes
(BBC): Barack Obama has outlined his vision of a world free of nuclear weapons in a major speech in Europe. The US president called for a global summit on nuclear security and the forging of new partnerships to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. He said he hoped to negotiate a new treaty to end the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons. North Korea’s "provocative" rocket launch earlier in the day underscored the need for action, he said. Although his nuclear goals might not be realised in his lifetime, he said he would strive to achieve them.
Three men charged with GBH
The three men were arrested at Owen Roberts Airport originally on suspicion of attempted murder by officers investigating the serious assault of a 23-year-old man. Police had responded to a 911 call made at around 4.35am on the morning of 21 March from a member of the public reporting that an incident was taking place at the Cay Courts Apartments area on Newport Road, George Town.
Arriving on the scene police reportedly found a man with serious wounds. He was taken to hospital suffering from lacerations to his head, arms and legs. Detectives from George Town Criminal Investigation Department started an investigation which led to the arrest of the three men.
Police said anyone with information is asked to contact DC Orlando Mason at George Town CID on 525 8744. Anyone with information about crime taking place in the Cayman Islands should contact their local police station or Crime Stoppers on 800-8477 (TIPS). All persons calling crime stoppers remain anonymous, and are eligible for a reward of up to $1000, should their information lead to an arrest or recovery of property/drugs.
Branches of Government: Existing and Proposed
This is the first, in a series of articles prepared by the Caymanian Bar Association (CBA) to consider the implications of various aspects of the proposed Cayman Islands Constitution Order 2009 (the 2009 Draft Constitution) that is to be the subject of Cayman’s first referendum vote on 20 May 2009.
This article will focus on the executive, the legislative and the judicial branches of government under the existing Cayman Islands (Constitution) Order 1972 (as amended) (the 1972 Constitution) and the 2009 Draft Constitution.
The Executive
Under the 2009 Draft Constitution, ultimate executive authority would remain with Her Majesty but is expressed to be exercised on her behalf by the Government, including both the Governor and the Cabinet.
The Governor
Under the 2009 Draft Constitution, the appointment of the Governor would remain with Her Majesty to serve at Her pleasure. The Governor would continue to have such powers and functions as are prescribed by the Constitution, by law, by assignment or by instructions from Her Majesty. The key roles of the Governor would remain the same. These include, administering the Cayman Islands on behalf of Her Majesty, presiding over Cabinet and explaining Her Majesty’s policies to the Islands.
The 2009 Draft Constitution would impose an additional obligation on the Governor when exercising his or her functions. The Governor would be required to "endeavour to act in the best interests of the Cayman Islands so far as such interests are consistent with the interests of the United Kingdom.”
There is, however, no express mechanism to (i) objectively determine whether the Governor has acted in accordance with this duty or (ii) provide any remedy for its breach. Further, the question of whether the Governor has complied with Royal Instructions by Her Majesty, or acted in accordance with the advice or recommendation or in consultation with any other body, where so required, would remain excluded from inquiry in any court. However, where the Governor is entitled to and has used his or her sole discretion or judgment in making a decision, for example the appointment of the Chairman of the Electoral Boundary Commission, such action may be the subject of an inquiry in the courts.
The Cabinet
Under the 1972 Constitution, elected members of the Legislative Assembly choose elected Ministers from among their own ranks. There is no direct election of a leader by voters. Instead, a simple majority of fifteen elected legislators elect five of their number by secret ballot to become elected Ministers, but such election may be revoked by the vote of nine elected legislators.
Under the 1972 Constitution, the Governor assigns ministerial responsibilities to the elected Ministers and appoints, as Leader of Government Business, the elected Minister whose party (or, if there is no such party, who otherwise) commands the support of a majority of the elected members of the Legislative Assembly. The Cabinet would be comprised of five elected Ministers along with the Chief Secretary, Attorney General and Financial Secretary, who are three senior civil servants appointed by the Governor.
Under the 2009 Draft Constitution, the Governor would appoint as Premier the elected member of the Legislative Assembly who (i) is recommended by a majority of the elected members of the majority party in the Legislative Assembly or (ii) if there is no such recommendation, commands the support of a simple majority of all elected legislators.
Under the 2009 Draft Constitution, the Premier, after being appointed, would advise the Governor on the appointment of six other elected legislators as Ministers, one of whom would be designated as the Deputy Premier and another as a Minister charged with the new role of responsibility for finance. All elected Ministers are assigned their ministerial responsibilities by the Governor, acting after consultation with the Premier. The Cabinet would be comprised of the Premier, Deputy Premier and five other elected Ministers, together with the Deputy Governor and Attorney General as non-voting members. The Financial Secretary would no longer be a member of and, therefore, not accountable to the Cabinet or the legislature for matters relating to finance but would instead become the principal advisor to the elected Minister charged with the responsibility of finance. Cabinet decisions would, therefore, be determined exclusively by elected Ministers.
There are currently no term limits for elected legislators under the 1972 Constitution. Under the 2009 Draft Constitution, however, the office of Premier may only be held by the same person for two consecutive terms. Such person would not be eligible to hold the office of Premier again until one parliamentary term has passed since holding that office.
Under the 1972 Constitution, the Governor calls, sets the agenda and presides over Cabinet meetings and (in his or her absence), the Governor may designate the Chief Secretary to preside over such meetings. Under the 2009 Draft Constitution, however, certain of these powers would be shared with the Premier. Either the Governor or the Premier may call a Cabinet meeting. The agenda of such meeting would be jointly set by the Governor and the Premier.
The Governor would generally preside over Cabinet meetings. In the Governor’s absence, the Premier (or, in the Premier’s absence, the Deputy Premier) would preside over such meeting. Notwithstanding these express provisions, however, the definition of “Governor” under the 2009 Draft Constitution includes the Deputy Governor, duly appointed to carry out the Governor’s functions in the event of his or her illness or absence from the Islands. If so appointed, the Deputy Governor, in his or her role as acting Governor, may have a prior right to the Premier to chair Cabinet meetings.
The Legislature
Under the 1972 Constitution, the legislature is comprised of fifteen elected legislators as voting members along with three Official Members who also have the right to vote but are bound by collective responsibility to vote with the five elected Ministers.
Under the 2009 Draft Constitution, the legislature would comprise eighteen elected legislators as voting members along with the Deputy Governor and Attorney General as non-voting members. The number of elected legislators may be further increased by the legislature in conjunction with the Governor and the Premier based on the findings of an Electoral Boundary Commission.
The Judiciary
Both the 1972 Constitution and the 2009 Draft Constitution makes provision for the Court of Appeal, Grand Court and subordinate courts for the Cayman Islands and establish procedures for appointing, disciplining and removing judges. The 2009 Draft Constitution would formally establish the Chief Justice as head of the judiciary. It would also establish the role and function of a Judicial and Legal Services Commission to advise the Governor regarding appointments to, and removals from, such offices.
Conclusion
The 2009 Draft Constitution provides for greater democratisation and accountability in the legislative and executive branches of Government by (i) removing the right to vote presently held by non-elected Official Members and (ii) establishing an elected Minister charged with the responsibility of finance who would be accountable to the legislature, and ultimately to the voters, for the finances of these Islands.
Cayman targets white list
(CNS): Although disappointed that the Cayman Islands is on the grey list of countries which came out of Thursday’s G20, the government has said it is not surprised but believes that the jurisdiction will migrate to the white list soon. Speaking at special post G20 press briefing Minister Alden McLaughlin said given what the OECD has said recently about Cayman’s new legislation that allows universal tax exchange Caymanis expecting to be re-listed along side the crown dependencies once the organisations has reviewed that new law. (Left:Alden McLaughlin in Sweden at signing of latest bi-lateral tax agreement)
“While we are disappointed that we are not on the white list I can’t say I’m surprised,” said McLaughlin. “The rhetoric surrounding the G20 summit created an environment from a geo-political perspective that made it virtually impossible for us to end up on the white list as that would not fit with the current perceptions about tax havens. The list is also full of anomalies. The crown dependencies are the only offshore countries on the list and some countries, such as Hong Kong, are not even mentioned on any list.”
McLaughlin said he believed that Cayman falling in the grey area could well have been a result of the horse trading that may have gone on to keep powerful countries on board with the wider goals.
However, the crucial issue for Cayman now he said is that as the crown dependencies — direct competition to Cayman are there – this jurisdiction needs to be on the white list as soon as possible to maintain Cayman’s competitive advantage. McLaughlin said given what the CI government has been told by the OECD he was confident that it could happen as Cayman has already done all it needs to do to qualify for the white list despite the criteria being somewhat vague.
“I am satisfied that there is nothing the Cayman Islands could have done at this point would have given us a different result,” McLaughlin added. “The really positive thing is the acknowledgement by the OECD for our tax information exchange law.”
He explained that the passage of the Tax Information Law in December could not have come any sooner as it was in itself an innovative law which Cayman devised. He said Cayman came up with the mechanism for unilateral agreements only last year as part of its work with the OECD’s Level Playing Field sub-committee group and he said the only other country at the moment to have utilised this new mechanism by passing the law besides Cayman is St Kitts.
In a foot note to the progress report there are positive indications that the OECD will see the new law as meeting its standard for tax exchange.
“Cayman already has the greatest number of tax agreements with other OECD countries than anyone on the grey list,” McLaughlin added. “We have every reason to believe that once the rhetoric dies down Cayman will migrate to the white list.”
He said comments from the OECD coupled with the positive statements by the German and Irish authorities was all very helpful and with more discussions for bi-lateral agreements pending Cayman was in a very good position. He said however, the biggest disappointment was the UK’s public silence.
“What is truly disappointing and the main bit missing from this picture is the fact that the UK didn’t make a positive statement about the progress on the bi-lateral agreement and information exchange negotiation. They have been very complimentary in private but it is not willing to make public statements. That is very disappointing. It seems they have pressed for the crown dependents but as expected given the environment of the G20 not for the Cayman Islands.”
He said that despite the fact that Cayman was not really the kind of jurisdiction that specialised in tax avoidance the rhetoric would be unlikely to stop and once we met the criteria to get on this list there was still the issue of the future green OECD list which Cayman wants to get on.
“Tax avoidance is not the area where Cayman’s present business is based,” McLaughlin said. “Cayman has never had direct taxation but what that does is present a platform that’s useful for structuring sophisticated transactions without a new layer of tax. We offer the benefits of what is now termed a tax neutral jurisdiction and we are a sophisticated, well regulated offshore financial centre.”
He lamented the image of the “suitcases full of money” which he said was part of a distance past a time when things were less regulated and the systems not as robust. “It is however taking us an incredibly long time to shake that image,” he added.
Library project near end
(CNS): The new George Town library received another welcome boost this morning when Andrew Reid, a partner with Maples and Calder, the partner sponsor of the library extension development handed over another instalment of US$700,000 in the financing of the project. In total the legal firm will be donating some US$2.5 million to complete the new building which is expected to be open in a few weeks.
“It’s a fantastic project and a great thing for Cayman,” said Reid as he handed the cheque to Alden McLaughlin, Minister for Education. Both men said they were excited about the joint partnership and not least, despite some two years in the making the entire library extension and development was coming in on budget at around $5 million. The facility is expected to be officially opened by the Minister in a few weeks when he said he would reveal the full details about the state of the art library facility.
Gay marriage rights upheld
(BBC): Iowa’s Supreme Court has ruled that a ban on same-sex marriages in the US state was unconstitutional. The judges rejected an appeal against a lower court’s 2007 ruling that the ban violated the rights of gay men and women in the state. The case stems from a 2005 suit filed by a New York-based gay-rights group on behalf of six gay and lesbian couples. Iowa now becomes the third US state to allow same-sex marriages after Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Cayman shooters off to UK
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Sport Shooting Association will be sending three shooters to the Britannia Grand Prix (BGP) in Dorset, England, where they will compete in skeet and trap. Following the Grand Prix event, the three Cayman shooters – Christopher Jackson, Kevin Schirn and Edison Mclean – will participate in a one day shooting clinic at Bisley Shooting Range with an international coach before returning to Cayman.
Cayman Islands Olympic Committee (CIOC) President Donald McLean recently presented a cheque to the Shooting Association for US$1625 on behalf of the Olympic Committee to cover the costs for some of the expenses of the competition and the cost of the Training Clinic at Bisley. (Photo above with shooters Kevin Schirn and Edison Mclean)
The BGP originated as an Olympic Skeet competition founded in 2003, designed for existing talented shots and to encourage novice and social shooters to compete in an international standard eventAccording to a release from the CIOC. To continue to build on its success, from 2007, the BGP included Olympic Trap and Double Trap and in 2009 a Sport Trap competition. In the coming years it will provide the highest quality competition opportunities to UK and international competitors training towards the UK hosted 2012 Olympics.
The BGP is an open competition, designed to create an atmosphere which is professional and inspiring for the regular competitive shooter, and friendly, encouraging and progressive to the novice competitor and social shooters. All competitors are assisted at every opportunity to achieve their maximum potential, to enjoy the experience and take away something of value, be it a medal or the satisfaction of personal achievement.
According to the CIOC, the entire experience will help to prepare the team for the Island Games 2009 later this year as well as for the CAC Games in 2010. The Cayman Islands Olympic Committee is proud to assist the Shooting Association with some of the expenses of the trip, and trust that the athletes will gain much from their participation.
Prisoner arrested for murder
(CNS): Police have announced that a 38-year-old man who is currently serving a sentence in HMP Northward has been arrested on suspicion of murdering 21-year old Sabrina Schirn. The suspect was part of the Northward Prison work release programme at the East End farm, but according to Dr William Rattray, Director of Prisons, he was not incarcerated for a violent offence.
In a short briefing, in which the police refused to give any details of the case as they said the investigation was still continuing, Acting Commissioner James Smit, flanked by Rattray and Acting Chief Superintendent Marlon Bodden, confirmed the arrest of the Northward prisoner . Defending the release programmeof which the prisoners was a part, Rattray said that the prison service’s risk assessment instrument that all prisoners were subject to before being allowed on the farm was the most sophisticated available.
“We conducted an international review of risk assessments before settling on the instrument that we use,” he said, adding that any rehabilitation programme such as this was subject to risk and it was not possible to predict human behaviour.
Rattray said that some 8-12 Category C and D prisoners work on the prison farm every day and are working on 200 open acres of farmland supervised by two prison officers who are horticultural instructors.
“Just like a school teacher cannot keep her eye on every child in the class, the same is true for these officers,” he said. Rattray said that the situation was an aberration and that the programme was part of a managed rehabilitation programme.
Despite questions about the time of death, whether Sabrina’s body was moved or whether an accomplice was involved, the police would not be drawn and said that they could not comment on those issues.
Given the significant criticism regarding the investigation, the police were asked it they had any regrets about how it had been conducted. “We are confident in the way we have handled this investigation and we would not have done anything differently,” said Bodden.