(CNS): Following a number of statements made by the current education minister severely criticising him, the former education minister objected to the trend emerging in the Legislative Assembly that denies the opposition the opportunity to reply. Rolston Anglin has taken Alden McLaughlin to task over the DER, UCCI and the scholarship system, not in the process of debate but in statements delivered on the floor of the House that, according to LA rules, allow only for clarification questions but no right to reply. McLaughlin raised this point with the Speaker on Wednesday, 30 June, calling the trend “cowardly” as the minister had failed to engage in the budget debate and was now abusing the privilege of the LA. (Photo Dennie Warren Jr)
After the third statement from Anglin, this time criticising the George Town PPM member for the poor administration of the scholarships department, McLaughlin raised his formal objection. “The minister for education did not seek to debate these issues during the budget and he is now, in a most cowardly manner, raising them in the context of statements, to which we can’t respond,” McLaughlin said. “It is an abuse of privilege. I should not have to be forced on to defend the issues on a radio talk show.”
Outside of the chamber the former Cabinet minister told CNS that the trend emerging from the government of making lengthy statements was wrong.
“The ministers declined to debate the budget and throne speeches and outline their policies and plans. Now they are doing so in the form of long statements, which are also severely critical of the previous administration. The statements are not open to debate, there is no opportunity for scrutiny or defence in the House by those not on the government benches. It is undemocratic and inequitable. We should not have to be forced to respond to these matters on the talk shows,” he added.
McLaughlin said this was the second budget presentation in which the government members had not engaged in debate about their policies and plans and he never seen it before. “They don’t want to be subject to scrutiny,”the former education minister said.
The PPM member’s comments on the heels of criticisms raised by his colleague Arden McLean, who accused the UDP administration of “truncating” and undermining democracy when the premier raced through the Finance Committee last week.
As a result of the government presenting its budget so late in the year, Finance Committee was forced to sit in the early hours of the morning and ministers were therefore answering questions about the appropriations without the support of their civil servants. McLean had angrily raised his objections and accused the premier of trying to silence the opposition and preventing them from asking questions about government spending.
Shame on you Rolston…and the restof the UDP puppets whom contributed nothing of value to this budget debate…if it can be called that.
Miss Mary, you’re likely going to have to show somewhat more strength to have proper order in the LA. Mac (with his intimidating dictator style) is seemingly testing how much you will allow him to get away with…and now others will follow suit.
Such a shame to hear such blaming and foolishness from those paid so highly to lead Cayman.
Re."We werent given all your traveling expenses", remember its not too late! You can ask for them now. Good idea!
Never you mind Mr. Alden, remember there’s a God above, and every dog has his day. I thought better of Rolston than that, as a matter of fact he has disapointed me badly, I thought he would stand up for his rights, but I see he is only an extension cord like the rest of the UDP members. Shame on you Rolston.
Does Alden expect anything different from a dictator? The main objective of a dictator or a dictatorship is to silence the opposition & silence the people. Alden should not be surprised by these actions because these actions are those of a dictator & dictatorship. Don’t worry, "time longer than rope" & even a dictator has his day coming. Mark my words!
That is one thing the UDP members are good at…..being cowards!
Not alot of courage on any bench, and Mary Lawrence allows this airbagging to proceed without interjecting in the interest of good order. The LA is allowed to proceed like a junior high school debate. Is this the best we can hope for?
I think a High school De Bate would proceed with more grace & decorum
I got De Bate Mac..Lets go fishin!
DER’s performance is poor – that is why we are having these riots from Construction workers in the East. There is little support for the hard working local or Caymanian in the Construction field.
Is this present government to blame for DER’s performance?
Yes they are to be blame for the DER performance as well as everything else that is gone bad.
the reason for the blow up in East End has nothing to do with DER. it is a problem of Immigration not protecting Caymanian interests and Caymanians fronting on business licenses!
It sounds like Mary Lawrence needs to police the playground better.
I think she has problems of her own. I just happend to pick up some of the proceedings in the LA on Radio Cayman last night, and the contemptuous and disdainful manner in which the Premier addresses the Speaker of the House leads me to believe that it must come to a boil before too long.
Undoubtedly because he selected her for the post he feels that she must do his bidding and kowtow like the rest of the Cabinet.
I wouldn’t claim to know "Miss Mary" that well, but she knew what Macdinejad was capable of when she accepted the position, and I don’t expect her to go silently into that good night.
McKeewa and de little fries not wanting their lack of direction and lack of strategy become more obvious than it already is – now is that really a surprise?
These aren’t even MEN — little kids and blowhards. They only thing they know is to blame someone else!
Common sense, I would have thought, prevails but apparently that isn’t very common in the LA. Stop the petty bickering!
If something is broken just fix it. I don’t care who broke it!
I do not support any party. I try to support individuals. Look at the credentials of both ministers and decide who could do the best non political job. Education for the youth not the party line.
This is so true. Just fix things and stop pointing the finger @ the other! That does not help. It will just help to stir up more scandal, strif and chaos. PPM- you have done what you choose to do when you where in charge. We didnt have this freedom of speech and we werent given all your traveling expenses or dates that the government payed for as well as the other expenses I am sure helped put Cayman in the situation it is in. So I think you all are just enjoying the fact the the UDP is getting the XXXX end of the stick because they are the ones in the spotlight now with these new laws and we can actually see what the government is spending on them and what we are spending on them. PPM you are all just trying to secure your positions in the next vote. I hope everyone knows this. UDP- while you are in control please stop bickering with the PPM. Stop pointing fingers. Thank God for the positions you have and get with it. You are who is in control now and you need to focus on how to make things better. Please remember that there are plenty of us out here that are barely making ends meet so before you make decisions on cutting pays and hiking up prices here and there keep us in mind,
"PPM- you have done what you choose to do when you where in charge. We didnt have this freedom of speech and we werent given all your traveling expenses or dates that the government payed for as well as the other expenses I am sure helped put Cayman in the situation it is in".
It was the PPM who enacted the Freedom of Information Law. It took effect while they were still in office. As far as I know FOI is retroactive so we can obtain all the information that we desire on the PPM’s administration. They went through a whole Commission of Enquiry on a sitting PPM Minister. They had Auditor General’s reports criticising them. The Compass and the Net News were both against them. The plain fact is that there was comparatively little negative to report.
We had a great deal more freedom of speech then than we do now because everyone knew that PPM wouldn’t pursue a vendetta against them because of a disagreement.
Oh really? You must have a very short memory or is a new comer. These lot are basically all the same dog puppy, as the older folks like to say. Cut from the same cloth.
I have lived here for 40+ years. When it comes to transparency and the willingness to be accountable the UDP Govt. is one of the worst in our history.