Archive for July 21st, 2012
Cops recapture prisoner
(CNS): A man who escaped from police custody Thursday has been arrested and is back in the police cellspolice say. Jeremy Claston Holness (30) escaped from his police guard at the Cayman Islands Hospital about 12:30pm on 19 July. He was arrested Friday evening on suspicion of escaping lawful custody Holness had been taken to the hospital because he complained of being unwell but he dodged his police guard and went on the run. The police said at the time that Holness was not a danger to the public. Following his re-capture the RCIPS offered their thanks to the community for its assistance in helping the police to detain the suspect once again.
‘Voters have spoken’
(CNS): Both the leader of the opposition and the independent member for North Side have called on the premier to listen to the people and implement one man, one vote in single member constituencies for the 2013 election. Releasing statements on Friday evening in response to the premier’s comments on Thursday regarding a new committee to examine the voting system, both men said the people had already indicated what they wanted. Alden McLaughlin said a significant majority of voters made it plain that they want single member constituencies and the premier should respect the voice of the people.
“We do not need more discussions, we do not need more committees, we do not need more campaigning or another referendum. All that is required is a simple amendment to the Elections Law,” said the opposition leader in response to the premier’s latest idea of introducing nine double-member constituencies.
Miller said the premier had taken an irrationalquantum leap when he assumed that all those registered voters who did not come to the polls would have voted 'no'.
“In North Side, I have been given several reasons by registered voters as to why they did not turn up to the polls,” he said in a radio broadcast on Friday evening. “These include: sick at home, sick in hospital, off island, never votes for personal or religious reasons, too drunk at the party to vote, could not decide how to vote. Not a single person gave the reason that their not voting would count as a 'no' vote."
Miller said that, unlike the premier, he had some difficulty in knowing that the dead would vote 'no' as the dead don't speak to him.
McLaughlin too took issue with the premier’s position that those who did not come to the polls should be considered 'no' votes. He said it was “disingenuous and grossly misleading” for the premier to claim the majority of people voted 'no'.
“In truth and in fact the 'yes' votes outstripped the 'no' votes by 2 to 1," McLaughlin said. “The reality is that if the premier had not manipulated the referendum process by creating an artificially high bar of 50% + 1 of registered voters instead of 50% +1 of votes cast, the referendum would have succeeded.”
The opposition leader said the premier’s dismissal of the wishes of 65% of voters in the referendum demonstrated the "absolute disregard and utter contempt” the UDP administration had for the people and how out of touch government was.
See both statements below. Read CNS Monday for more on the opposition's position regarding the referendum and the future of Cayman’s voting system.