MLA to fight for Constitution
(CNS): Following a dispute over the language used in an amendment to a piece of legislation, an opposition MLA has vowed to fight to protect the changes made in the new Constitution. The question of the power of the governor versus elected officials was at the heart of the arguments made by Alden McLaughlin during the committee stage amendments of the Tax Concessions Amendment Bil in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday. The PPM member said the use ofthe term “Governor in Cabinet” in laws going forward is undermining the gains made in the 2009 constitution, which separated the governor from the elected officials when it came to policy decisions outside his areas of interest. The continued use of the term in laws and amendments was to “do violence to the existing constitution”, McLaughlin stated.
Following an adjournment on Monday over the issue first raised by the independent member for North Side Ezzard Miller and argued by McLaughlin, lawmakers returned to hear the AG’s position that there was nothing “constitutionally unacceptable” about the term.
He admitted it was not an easy issue to resolve and that it was not the end of the matter, as the term did not appear anywhere in the new Constitution. Going forward, the AG said, it was important to find language that could describe the policy decision making process of Cabinet, but in the meantime, advice from the Foreign and Commonwealth office was that there was nothing legally objectionable about the phrase.
However, McLaughlin, who was one of the main architects of the new Constitution that came into affect last November, pointed out that the changes to the balance of power made in it were important advances. He warned these were being rolled back by continuing to use a phrase which implied the governor still controlled government policy.
“It may be that the UK is remorseful about this but the reality is that the new Constitution created a sea change in proceedings that relate to the structure of government,” McLaughlin said, adding that he would be writing to the FCO about the situation. “The governor is not a part of Cabinet; he is a separate component.”
McLaughlin pointed out that under the new Constitution it is the Cabinet — the elected members — for better of for worse, that now have responsibility for policy, except for areas such as national security, which remain in the governor’s remit. The opposition MLA pointed out that it is now “inconceivable” that the governor would be held responsible for the policy decisions of elected members.
“We fought to get responsibility for policy to be the discreet remit of elected officials,” McLaughlin added, explaining that it was a deliberate act as a result of policy decisions made by past governors that were not in the interests of the Caymanian people. “We wanted to move away from a position where the governor was responsible for policy,” he said.
McLaughlin added that it was essential that, as elected members of the legislature, they all resisted the attempts by the UK and its representatives to push back the gains made in the new Constitution. “These were hard fought changes and we must not allow those from the UK to tell us things have not changed,” McLaughlin implored the government benches. “If government wants to challenge this or not, I will not let this rest.”
He said that letting the UK go back on the concessions that had been made would be a disaster, given all of the effort, time and money spent on creating a modern constitution. “It would all be for nought,” he warned.
The AG said that the gains in the Constitution would not be affected by the use of the term but pointed out that compromise language must be found to better reflect the new situation. “The UK advisor did not issue an edict or a decree, she just said it was constitutionally acceptable,” the AG told McLaughlin.
The premier said that as the AG had found the language was not unconstitutional he would keep the term as he believed there was still a “Governor in Cabinet”, and as he pointed out, “all the world knew he had not voted for this constitution,” as among other objectionable things there were too many areas where there were contradictions.
McKeeva Bush told members that, at the end of the day, the governor still had veto powers and while he would challenge them if the governor tried to use them, he was still in the Cabinet and the premier only chairs if he is away.
“Let us not fool ourselves. We don’t have the authority we think we have,” Bush said, adding that if the opposition was going to go around suggesting the elected government had more power than it really had and was not using it, he would have to do say something. “The governor has the powers to stop anything he so desires,” the premier said.
Category: Headline News
Alden, you made such an unholy mess during your first attempt at actually running a ministry, why should the (thinking) public at all imagine that you would be any more successful next time round? And as the premier, you must be joking. A "natural" complainer, you are best left in eternal opposition, to grow "old and feeble", as you once put it with regard to the present premier’s position as leader of the opposition. It really is the best thing for Cayman. Hell would freeze over before I’d vote for you to be the premier, and believe me I’m looking for an alternative to Big Mac.
I thought our constitution was built on the fundamental principles of "life, liberty and the pursuit of rampant homophobia".
That’s right
AMEN!
Alden, you will never be Premier, much less Prime Minister. You are as easy to read as a children’s book.
I doubt very much if McKeeva Bush has read the entire constitution. Obviously he read the part about his power as the premier being increased and he loves the part where the governor’s powers has been reduced. This is a true fact, don’t let anyone tell you different examine the document for yourself.
BUT I DOUBT IF HE READ ANYTHING ELSE! All provisions protecting the people are in there, its just that they have not fully enacted the constitution as yet! they must be forced to do so. Mean time people are left to believe that the constitution is lacking checks and balances and a whole lot of stuff. This is not true. the AG, and Premier, governor and everybody is holding up or delaying the full enactment of the provisions in this constitution passed in 2009. The document is more powerful than you realize. THEY ARE SITTING ON IT because if favors you greatly in attempt to make you believe something else, while taking full advantage of the people.
You’re attacking and doubting the constitution. Its ok. what you need to worry about is the BILL OF RIGHTS. You need to push and demand its implementation immediately. That’s where they can really screw you if you allow them to drag it out till 2012 what’s that all about?
Do you realize the political victimization and damage that can be done between now and 2012? Start demanding the bill of Rights enactment. Ezzard and Mary Lawrence would not be throwing their wright around if the Bill of Rights had already been enacted. That’s the reason THEY DON’T WANT IT ENACTED TOO QUICKLY THEY WANT TO ‘ TAME’ YOU FIRST!
Last time I looked this country strongly did not want independence from the UK. So just accept that the Governor runs the show, and will do so until the good people decide they want independence. Preaching otherwise is simple posturing and we not fooled. Like the Compass debate, what a waste of time. Of course he’s the Governor in Cabinet. Alden, you bothered to ask yourself why the Governor must attend & chair Cabinet?
Meanwhile, in the real world Rome is burning down the house
I think many Caymanians don’t want Independence! At the same time, many don’t want a UK’ Dictator overriding their representative democracy!
What people want is for their voices to be heard and their democratic Will respected! Alden and his team who were behind this Constitution could have done better for the Cayman Islands. Instead they allowed such colonial provisions to remain embedded in the Constitution.
Now he is defending it! You can fool the people some time, but not all the time!
Big Mc is always fighting against us. How much more does he have to flex his muscles? Big joke on the people. Have you heard a sound on crime from any of the stogies? I am listening.
To the jobless, don’t bank your hopes on the representatives assisting anyone. They are hell bent on opening the flood gates wider ,by relaxing visas and granting more permits at a faster rate, to smother the natives. If the wise peeps knew how their actions and aggressive tones resound over the air-waves, when they are trying to fool the people into believing that they are working wonders in their favour, they would get a crocus sack and put over their faces. It could only happen in Cayman. It is time for the unemployed to step forward and picket at the GAB and LA Buildings. Let the Minister for Labour understand that you deserve a piece of the pie and he must step up to the plate or step down. Their are good people out there who are seeking for an honest days pay, not $3.50 p hr. This what our governments have encouraged over the years and we are now paying the price for this distasteful ingredient (slavery).
So it declares in Part II, Section 33 of our Constitution, pertaining to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the office that oversees the British Overseas Territories: “The Governor may act against the advice given to him or her by the Cabinet— if he or she is instructed to do so by Her Majesty through a Secretary of State; or if, in his or her judgment, such advice would adversely affect any of the special responsibilities of the Governor set out in section 55.”
So that means Cayman that the Governor, the FCO appointted head can through a UK’ special interest group or socalled "Her Majesty’s interest," can at any time, override the will of the people of the Cayman Islands by acting against the advice of their elected representatives, formerly known as Cabinet.
Alden, I don’t know but this provision sounds to me that from the very start, this document was drafted "behind closed doors" in order to retain and ensure colonial power over the people of these islands should they in their own words "misbehave" or rebel against the Crown. I thought that a Constitution is a national document for and by the people of a country. Instead this document has fooled so many Caymanians that on the day of the Election it was approved because PPM party was supporting it!
How do you fool-fool the populace in thinking they are under a democratic secured system? Answer: When you have the "Constitution Vote" on the same day of a General Election. This should have never occurred! Because people became blinded by party politrix instead, and hence voted for the new Constitution on a party line basis.
You… Alden… yes… You was the one who spearheaded this Constitution! You and Kurt Tibbitts. Yes… we needed a new Constitution, but not this kind of Constitution! McKeeva may had been a devil! But you sold us short!!! When it comes to democratic representation for these islands, you sold us short!!! No one was asking for Independence; however, in terms of securing our democratic representation as a people, you and Kurt failed to fight for us in the chambers of UK parliament or the courts of the U.N.! Still the Governor can get away in at any time usurping his powers over the will of the people of these islands – the elected Cabinet!
You have failed us tremendously! I am not a UDP member… neither will I be your PPM supporter! Without apology, you did not fight hard enough for your people!
The first role of a government is to protect its citizens. Ours is a total failure and I include both the government and the opposition in that.
Flap your gums all you want about the finer points of constitutional theory, Mr. Alden. Nobody is listening. We are all trying to make our plans of what to do when the violent scum that you useless politicians have allowed to ruin our country break into our homes and attack our families.
The leader that the Cayman people are looking for is the one who will be extremely tough on crime and criminals. I am not referring to empty words. I am talking about action.
The Premier and his cronies are useless at best. Alden and Kurt both have good hearts, but I have seen no evidence that either has the stomach for introducing the changes to our laws that we need to keep the violent criminals off our streets and make our homes and our streets safe once again. Who will fight for the people?
Alden seems to be the only one that was involved in the Constitutional Talks that doesn’t realise that the actual Constitution does not advance us much further than we were before, other than a few titles here and there and the Bill of Rights.
isn’t this the same guy who "fought" for a real bill of rights in our constitution and then caved in after a few seconds when the preachers XXXX rebelled?
*Yawn*
How about fighting crime?
Well,
If we are still a UK territory and Not Independent, Yes we still have to answer to the UK. Do you want Big Mac or Ezzard for Premier, Do you want to become another Cuba in the West Indies or an African nation with civil wars fighting every day. That’s what you will get if we go independent!
Some of you do not seem to know that the UK decided long ago not to allow or permit another BERMUDA IN THE WEST INDIES amongst her UK territories. Bermuda is swanky, feisty, and successful with good governance, and self government but not independent. Before the UK realized what happened it was too late. Mother country kicked herself for allowing this to happen, and said "Never again!".
You see the old colonial way of freeing her slave colony is to have them suffer economically then let go. Later declaring to the world, "I told you so they could not do without us! "
Bermuda advanced her constitution as far as possible without going independent and they have their cake and is eating it too! Doing very well and has a constitution that is to be envied.
Cayman has a constitution "almost but not" like Bermuda which is the primary model used while shaping the original drafting for the constitution of the Cayman Islands recently enacted in 2009.
What Mr. Alden McLaughlin is saying is that the provisions in that constitution are not being utilized for the benefit of the l.A. nor the people., The A.G. working for the UK of course would not vote, will never vote on anything to advance Caymanians , because it grants the people freedom the powers that be do not want them to have. However the UK is well aware of all this, and so is the governor that is THE MAIN REASON HE IS SO QUIET!
The governor does not want you to know that the powers of the governor has been reduced while the powers in the elected government has been increased. He does not want to step on any body’s toes! He is tickled by the constitution not being fully enacted in its entirety, so is the A.G.
So who is responsible for hiding the real truth about what kind of government or constitution we really do have? The A.G.
Again, the constitution is not made strong enough without the enactment of the bill of rights document complimenting it.
Alden is right where the constitution is concerned. He is now having his fifteen minutes of fame acting as opposition leader, while Ezzard is painted as a mean march hare by the public for his bullying Brent Fuller of Caycompass..
We wish to see the same diligence on Mr. Alden’s part and the rest of the elected officials to fight for jobs and job security for the Caymanian people who elected them into office. Right now, Mr. Alden’s interest is dealing with political power, how much power he Alden would have -v-s the governor if he was the premier. Mr. Alden never has too much to say when it comes to creating jobs for the people. A lot of mouth but no solutions. 10 Caymanians fired from Butterfield last week means nothing to them. XXXX
Meantime Ezzard Miller is asking jobless and hungry people to form a human shield to stop the Imperado project !.
Where is Mr. Miller’s human shield to stop the work permit scams and demand jobs for the Caymanian people. Where is the regulation drafted to support such a plan? We are not saying his cause is not viable, what I am saying is that THESE LEGISLATORS DO NOT HAVE THEIR PRIORITIES IN PLACE. They eat well, and sleep well, their mortgage is paid. Do you realize that those who form the human shield requested by Mr. Miller may not even have a pot to P**s in nor a roof over their head. Why has he not called for an end to joblessness and employment for our people with the same degree of aggressiveness and determination.
Then it gets better, our Premier had the audacity to state publicly that the private sector should create jobs for the people. Huh! tell us something new.
One question McKeeva Bush, if you continue to GRANT WORK PERMITS FOR THESE COMPANIES whom you claim should create the jobs for Caymanians, How do you put jobs for Caymanians into the equation while you import people to fill those positions?
Who do you think you are fooling?
Florence, you browsed over so many topics! It was inevitable that you were to get a thumbs down. Despite being emotional, you should deal and deliberate one issue at a time. You moved from one topic and then suddenly jumped to the next one.
Tammie,
Do you at least agree that what Florence is saying is the gospel truth?
When a Caymanian speaks the truth support him or her. Some people think very fast and is not at all interested in being grammatically correct just to please the critics or opponents. The brain is faster than the pen sometimes, and I think that is Florence’s style of writing comments.
I have seen her produce comments that sometimes are second to no lawyer. Then there are times she jumps around. I think she gets a kick out of it. However we are sure of one thing she hits the nail on the head, most of the time. If we had legislators that think the way she thinks we would not even be having this conversation. Things would be a whole lot better for all of us, x-pats and Caymanians.
You hit the nail on the head in so many areas. I still say that the increase in crime came from the unregulated, unchecked, disgusting giving away of the citizenship of this country to so many back before Ivan by the then Leader of Govt. Business, now the Premier. Status was flung away like there was no tomorrow and now we are paying the price because some of those people went straight to social services and will remain there forever. Some were/are criminals. No background checks – disgraceful. Relaxing the visa requirements is only going to let more in. Govt is deathly silent about crime. We cannot defend ourselves legally.We cannot even legally carry pepper spray and if we defend ourselves, we will be in big trouble. Now our elderly are not safe in their homes anymore. People trying to set other people on fire. We have gone from being a relatively peaceful,crime free country to the gates of hell in a very short time. Why, because of widespread corruption and greed. Until all are held accountable, this is not going to stop. We have leaders who are too afraid to lead. WE have people in key positions who will not do the right thing because they know they will lose their jobs. What a disgrace.
It would be great to get rid of big brother if we could effectivley govern ourselves. I’m a patriot for Cayman. However, it’s nice to know there is a safety net which is becoming more apparent everyday .
Alden
Under PPM, I recall that the existing Constitution which was discussed behind closed doors from the public and wrongfully conjoined with our General Election, was from the very start flawed!
It declares in Part II, Section 33, pertaining to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Read for yourself folks… that…
“The Governor may act against the advice given to him or her by the Cabinet— if he or she is instructed to do so by Her Majesty through a Secretary of State; or if, in his or her judgment, such advice would adversely affect any of the special responsibilities of the Governor set out in section 55.”
It also states in Part IX of the said document, Section 125 where it for certain nullifies and cancels out all elected powers for and by the people of the Cayman Islands – in one sentence: “There is reserved to Her Majesty full power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Cayman Islands.” Whatever that "good government" is, I sure know that the Turks and Caicos Islands are having a field day with the Governor there.
Alden, from the very start, does this Constitution 2009 sound like a Democratic document to you??? I can’t understand now how you seeing the flaws in the document.
* Caymanians need to wake up and realize that we are STILL (in some degree) under a Colonial system garbed in a Constitution that appears to be Democratic, but when anything goes wrong, negatively effecting Her Majesty’s Interest (whatever that interest is over our interest), no sooner do you here the Governor speaking from the pulpit or the FCO making a mandate over the inhabitants of these islands.
Here again our votes for elected members in Cabinet, are all IMMATERIAL under this Constitution. Trust me… if you study law you will know for certain that we are deluded in thinking that we have any "final say" on what goes on in our own house! If you study history you will know that this was one of the major reasons why America broke away from Great Britian in having a Revolution. First, there was no Democratic Representation for and of the people of the 13 colonies at that time, and Great Britiain was passing laws and TAXES irrespective of the people’s wishes. Read this in the history books!
But unfortunately we Caymanians are too small to take on the BIG UK through the United Nations. Hence we have no other choice but to go along with her interference in our government and our lives.
Anyways… that is my 2-cent to thsi very important issure. lol… I know I will get alot of thumbs down by the Loyalist of the Crown. But so what?
God Bless
This is not a democracy – less than 40% of the population have the right to vote and an even smaller percentage the right to stand in elections. Until this is corrected I am glad that there is a fetter on power through the ultimate need for the UK’s approval for all activities.
Contrary to what you appear to think "democracy" does not mean that everyone in the population is entitled to vote. It is a right that is properly reserved to citizens. Since much of our population comprises transient expatriates it stands to reason that a large percentage of it would not have the right to vote. So it should be. Is the United States a democracy? Well, here’s a news flash for you – only citizens are allowed to vote in the U.S. Not Green Card holders, not work visa holders, not student visa holders. Is Canada a democracy? Well, only Canadian citizens are entitled to vote in their elections. Got the picture?
It is also completely natural for those possessing the right to run for office to be a smaller group as in order to be eligible they must not be dual citizens. That is not a ‘made in Cayman’ rule but one which you will find in many democracies worldwide.
And while I am at it, let me debunk this idea that you should not be taxed if you cannot vote. ‘No taxation without representation’ was the cry of the American War of Independence. But that was taxation by England where those persons were not resident and did not earn their livelihood or present any demands on the infrastructure. Obviously, today non-U.S. citizens who live and work in the U.S. are taxed but cannot vote.
Ironically, and completely contrary to your point, the extent to which we are not democracy is the fact that we are an overseas territory of the UK status which means that laws can be passed for us without any say by the local populace, and that the Governor, an individual appointed by the UK Govt. and sserves at their pleasure, can override the duly elected legislature and government.
So you are right to say that we are not a democracy, but for the wrong reasons.
Don’t start this B.S.about dual citizenship.
Who do you think you are coming to this country and telling Caymanians they cannot have dual citizenship? Its a blessing and a privilege and you or no one has the right to question dual citizenship status of anyone! If you want to run for office do the right thing and GO HOME!
In the Cayman Islands only like any other country ONLY CAYMANIANS CAN VOTE AND RUN FOR OFFICE!
End of story!
Since my post was the only one that mentioned “dual citizenship” I assume that this is intended to be a response to it. You seem to have misunderstood it, so I suggest you read it again. We are in complete agreement regarding your last paragraph.
Oh, and by the way, it is impossible to be more Caymanian than I am.
The US in not an appropriate comparison because it is governed by a sui generis constitution. Cayman as a British territory is obliged to comply with the European Convention on Human Rights and the interference with the rights to vote and stand for election are fairly clear breaches of those rights.