Mac to reveal new MLA seats
(CNS): The premier is expected to bring the long awaited motion to the Legislative Assembly Monday to deal with where the three new MLA seats will go and how the country will be voting for them in the May 2013 General Election. Given the eleventh hour arrival of the order, which made an appearance in the country’s parliament almost 18 months ago only to be withdrawn due to problems over legal drafting, it is unlikely there will be any surprises. There is no longer enough time for the premier to implement any new ideas, such as those he put forward following the referendum this summer, and the order is expected to add two seats in George Town and one in Bodden Town.
As a result of changes to the country’s legislature in the Cayman Islands Constitution 2009, the parliament will be increasing at the next election by three elected members, from 15 to 18, in order to provide for one more elected minister. This is to replace the financial secretary, who was removed from the Cabinet, with the post of finance minister, which has been held by the premier since the new constitution came into effect.
With the general election set for 22 May 2013, the election writs that define how many candidates will be elected are scheduled to be issued by the governor on 12 December.
This means that the premier must have brought an order based on the Electoral Boundary Commission’s recommendations for debate. Once this motion is passed through the Legislative Assembly, government must then make the necessary amendments to the elections law dealing with the new political landscape — all before the 12 December deadline.
The Boundary Commission’s report, which was made public at the beginning of 2011, made three recommendations. One was for single member constituencies and one man- one vote, which, although it was endorsed by voters in a referendum in July, was not accepted by the premier, who insisted on a majority 'yes' vote by registered voters and not by those who actually went to the polls. So, while those that came out voted in favour, the result did not reflect more than half of all registered voters.
Another recommendation offered by the commission was for the creation of a seventh electoral district with three seats, located between George Town and Bodden Town. However, the premier has previously dismissed that option, though it is always possible that he will change his mind and re-examine that possibility.
Since it is unlikely that he will chose to create a new district so late in the election calendar, the recommendation made by the commission based purely on population count and retaining the current constituency boundaries is expected to be the government’s choice.
This will see an additional seat in Bodden Town and two in George Town, creating what even the premier has admitted is an unsatisfactory situation. With these additions, when the people of Cayman go to the polls in May, voters in North Side and East End will have just a single vote while those in the country’s capital will have six. This will give individual voters in George Town six times the influence on government than their countrymen in the outer districts, purely as a result of their home address.
Although politicians across the political divide recognize this inequality, because of the UDP government’s reluctance to implement one man-one vote, time has run out for other more equitable alternatives to be examined.
Vote in the CNS poll: Who would you rather see as the next premier?
Category: Politics
Maconomics as usual. Adding when he should be subtracting. Hey Mac, any more bright ideas on how to balance the budget? Is this going to double our utility bills once more? Sure hope they don't like flying and pensions as much as you and Ju plum. God help us.
I hope you are all brasing yourselves…I really do….
Wait for it……Wait for it…..
Another seat in……….WB
Watch my words……he will try to drop this on us….he hinted already….now he has waited for a long time….with all the independents coming out GT might be out of the question….with BT taking such a big hit because of dump he probably will loose both candidates there also….He basically has no choice…..in his mind anyway.
Round…aaahhh 15 is it…..
"As a result of changes to the country’s legislature in the Cayman Islands Constitution 2009, the parliament will be increasing at the next election by three elected members, from 15 to 18, in order to provide for one more elected minister".
Wrong. Two more elected Ministers. See s. 44 of the Constitution.
we need term limits!! not more underqualified crooks
BANANA Republic!!!!!
Don’t insult ‘Banana Republics’.
When idiots talk fools listen.
I’m soaking wet just thinking about it!
We should add eternal seats for each eternal honerable member. Think about it! It is only fair….
I would have rather one person, TWO votes where everybody has the privilege to vote for their district representative and secondly for the country’s Premier. I was calledall sorts of names for standing up to this idea during a time of heated exchange between parties. It was like there was only two options for the people to decide from, not three, not four, but two and any other idea was pushed aside. But the fact of the matter is- the people would have had the power to recall or remove the directly Premier if they were the ones to vote him in directly! This option appeared not to be supported by both sides of the aisle. I was proposing 18 constituencies, with each person having two votes, because by having one vote just for the district MLA, would have STILL disenfranchised the voter in determining who became Premier. Like others I was deemed APATHETIC and one that didn’t love his country, because I refused to vote in the referendum. But we can lift our heads up high because we expected a better alternative; perhaps a radical change in the limited Constitution to what will better represent the people and not any party interest. Libertarian
Agree with you Libertarian; IF we are to have a 'Premier', that person should be elected, not self-appointed. There should also be a mechanism for impeachment or removal of same.
I would like to see a dissolution of the party system as well; I believe our country is too young and too small for such a system to work effectively. If MLAs are all independents, perhaps they wouldn't spend so much of their time battling each other.
It's good to have dreams.
If you cant create some obivious solutions to real problems, create some delegates for more "leaders" to keep the lie alive that you are a problem solver and have Cayman in your best interests…genious…relative to absentminded voters.
I have long said that we CANNOT afford to add any more seats to the LA.We simply cannot pay out any more of these high salaries and get hardly any work in return.How often have these folks met this year?4,5,6 times maybe and then it was only for a day or so at most.The number 18 is wrong it should be an odd number preferably 17 at most so that there can be no chance of a tie when voting on a motion in the house.If indeed this is the case that the Speaker would have the casting vote then that is totally wrong so maybe someone can shed some light on that situation should it arise.We certainly DO NOT want to see any more seats go to West Bay with due respect as 4 is enough and its correct that GT should get 2 extra seats and BT the other.But this then brings us back to 18 once again.Did the boundries commission take this into account again with all due respect to them?Hopefully with a serious change in the upcoming election we will see some PROPER people taking over the reigns in Govt and work for the People and the Country instead of purely self interests as been happening for some time now.I urge all those young people that have not yet registered to vote to get out and DO SO as this is YOUR future that is being worked on so make sure you be a part of it and have your SAY in what happens. For a better cayman Peter Milburn.
I would be shocked if it is not:
GT – 1 seat
BT – 1 seat
WB – 1 seat
It better not be or there will be an unholy upheaval.
We should take one of the seats away from the "Sister Islands" and redistribute it to Grand Cayman. Also North Side and East End should merge.
Now thats a good way to get Julianna out…………….
Exactamundo!
Well done Mac! Whether anyone likes it or not…… at the time I made this post there were 2 tumbs up, WOW! two more idiots! lol! what promises did you 2 get, a job not deserved, your land sold, money for a new roof, bedroom set, WHAT?!!!!!WHAT?!!!!!
Sold their souls and their country – that's all. Hey, if the girls in Vegas and all the other casinos so beloved of the governments essential overseas marketing trips sell their bodies, why should we be surprised people sell their consciences.
If there is a deadlock then anyone that gets poromised the post of Deputy Premier will jump ship.
just in time for elections
What is happening with all the things that were to be discussed, immigration rollover (the time the indiviudal has to be away), the extending of the term limit, pension…come on you have raised permits twice already in which it was only suppose to have been raised once, costs are way up and companies are closing their doors very quickly…give an option to the employers if they want to pay into pension..what are you waiting for Mac???? now you are adding seats in the office, are these people doing it for nothing or are they going to receive a salary from a country that is bankrupt????
I'm not saying this is the correct answer, since common sense is not too common around here, but common sense would say that a majority is required for something to pass, so if you don't get more than 9out of 18 votes then it must remain as it was before. If only 17 show up to vote then the "ayes" would get it with just 9 votes.
I would say it is pretty much the way it is now since every single member is rarely there to vote on every single motion.
don't forget that Macs vote is the only one that counts currently.
Well done Mac! Whether anyone likes it or not, he is the ONLY leader in Cayman. Its a simple fact. To lead a country whilst the media and those in opposition endevour to rip your entire mission to pieces demonstrates a remarkable love and dedication to his country. Dont listen to the nonsense Mac, just lead your country
I think there was a typo at the end, it should have read "Mac, just leave your country".
I think we should add a seat for little Cayman to the Cayman Brac list. Making it One for Bodden Town One forGeorge Town and an extra for Cayman Brac as the Little Cayman Seat.
Floor is now Open for discussions andthoughts.
Why?
I think that Little Cayman is running quite well without political interference. The expats have Little Cayman booming. They don't need a politician messing things up for them.
We don't need anymore politicians period.
What happens in a 9 v 9 deadlock?
What are the provisions for dealing with the potential scenario with 9 PPM aligned members consistently voting against 9 UDP aligned members?
Will the speaker suddenly become the ruler of the country? Perhaps it's time the speaker started to brush up on the rules & procedures of Paliament.
Re 9v9 Deadlock . You world have thought that anyone with a brain would have thought of that when the constitution was being “modernized”. In fact many people did think of it but they were not the ones in charge.
For 20 years our Constitution provided for 12 MLAs and there was never a deadlock issue in practice. There are 100 senators in the U.S. senate and it has never been an issue there either.
To: Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 11/19/2012 – 14:01.
If there is a 9 to 9 deadlock then the last one to vote gets an all expense paid travel junket to an exotic destination for a party of 6 – if they agree to withdraw their vote…
Wait.. They are getting these travel junkets anyhow…
Let me re-think a better reward for them for preventing deadlock by withdrawing their vote…
Deadlock would be a good thing. It would minimize the damage that politicians do to the economy.
We cant afford these additional 3 seats and there are too many mlas now for the money they are paid (best paid in the caribbean and comparable to mps and senior elected officials in much larger jurisdictions with more responsibilities)
NO! Damn it! NO!
We need Less elected politicians not more.
One less for sure.
Deck chairs on the Titanic.
Yes, adding 3 new MLAs is probably correct from a theorectical point of view.
From a practical point of view it is an expensive waste of time.
We need to fix the financial mess before adding more cost to the government.
Never proactive … always reactive! What a bunch of highly paid jokers we have in parliament. Now we will get three more clowns elected who will be paid just to make up the numbers while the country languishes behind with unaddressed issues. This is truly an outrage and democracy at its worse.
What needs to happem is Nothside and East End should be made into one district and have two members to vote for, as it is now my default due to size of each district this do not allow for additional candidates.
09>50 I certainly agree with you. The premier needs to merge East End and north Side and call it North East District. Then there should be two seats for the North East Distruct.
I think this is a ver good Idea, and I do hope the Premier consider doing this.
Sorry folks…
All three seats will be in West Bay and we will have Mini-Mac 1, Mini-Mac 2 , and Mini-Mac 3.
The roles of Dr Evil and Fat Bastard will be played by other actors…
"[failure failure failure] …so the recommendation made by the commission based purely on population count and retaining the current constituency boundaries is expected to be the government’s choice."
That would be logical, seeing that he failed to take the required steps early enough and on time so as to make an "informed" decision (sneer quotes, of course), but the fact that it would be a logical fallback position (in the absence of real leadership) is the very reason he won't do it. Let's all stand by to see how he xxxxs up this process. Someone's going to want to trade this for a shipment of new fridges so he's stocked up for the next election.
A desperate, but real, attempt to remain in a position of power. This "new" Mac is an extremely dangerous person for the Cayman Islands.
On what basis can this possibly be justified? We already have a disproportionately high number of MLAs compared with voters, they are overpaid compared to the rest of the world and yet they appear to do absolutely nothing despite the country going from crisis to crisis. I'd be willing to bet 100% of voters would be strongly against anymore snouts in the trough. Mac just thinks he can do whatever he likes without regard to the people he supposedly works for…us.
Wonderful, just what we need, 3 more double dipping get nothing done mla's. Everything mac does makes me wonder how much more of this the island can take before it collapses under the weight of his ignorance.
The three seats should all go to West Bay.
West Bay shouldn't have any seats at all. At least not until they get some of their voters off drugs and at least partially educated, if that is at all possible. That is what Macaroni should be doing with some of that money he's throwing at the rest of the world. But then I suppose they'd all be too smart to vote for him.
Speechless…………….
Here is a way Government can cut costs.
We need more MLA' ls like a hole in our head. We already have far too many, each of which costs us at least 300,000.00 when you add in the costs of an office, travel, pensions and perks, and everything else.
The new constitution does not need to take precedence over breaking us.
Government needs to all it can to ease the burden of the private sector which supports it. That sector is already groaning under the weight. Some are cutting back, some are moving out, while others are pulling up stakes and quitting
Premier Bush, please do not add any more MLA's
I agree with most of your post but your statement that each of the MLA's cost us at least $300,000pa is a huge exaggeration. The ones who aren't ministers and especially the opposition MLA's do not cost anywhere near that. If you mean averaging across the whole LA though, you might be correct as I'm sure that Mac easily makes up the difference with Julie in first class travel and accommodations alone 🙂