Eden backs SMCs motion
(CNS): For the second time since the PPM government was elected to office, their veteran back-bencher, Anthony Eden, has rebelled against the party line. During the debate on a private member's motion brought by Arden McLean asking government to make the necessary amendments to the election law to introduce 'one man, one vote' in single member constituencies, in opposition to his colleagues, the Bodden Town MLA said he could not "get his head around" what "formula" government might adopt but he had campaigned for SMCs and would support the motion. In October, Eden opted not to toe the party line when the government passed the law to allow the 1,400 people on Term Limit Exemption Permits to stay until year nine and apply for residency.
Eden made a short and to the point contribution, pointing out he would always vote his own conscience and had given this issue considerable thought. Addressing the talk of garrisons, demographics and the so-called problems with smaller constituencies, Eden pointed out that there had never been any issues with democracy in East End and North Side. ReferencingGeorge Orwell’s Animal Farm, he said he was reminded that we are “all created equal but some are more equal than others”.
Pointing to the 65% 'yes' vote in the referendum in 2012 during what he described as a “roller coaster debate”, Eden said he had campaigned for SMCs and OMOV and he would support the motion.
However, others on the government front and back benches who had also campaigned on the issue, including those at the forefront of the OMOV referendum campaign, such as Marco Archer, Al Suckoo and Wayne Panton, all backtracked from their original positions on the issue.
Archer said that maybe he had been wrong about the accountability of multi-member constituencies; Suckoo had decided that perhaps there would be problems with smaller constituencies; and Panton said there was more than one route to equality of voting, as he emphasised his concern that there were many other issues which were more pressing than OMOV on government’s legislative agenda.
Moses Kirkconnell also noted that since being elected, not a single person had raised the issue of voting because it was jobs and the economy dominating the current environment, as he and his colleagues justified the PPM u-turn.
The Legislative Assembly adjourned around 5:30pm Thursday and is expected to resume this morning Friday at 10:30am to continue the debate.
Category: Politics
Shame on you Winston, you were raised much better than this behavior you are displaying. You should be hanging your head. We sweated to ensure you got a seat and now you have disappointed us?
I agree. He sure won't get my vote ever again. Disappointed isn't the word!
Mr. Eden, is the only one of the P-ss Poor Management that I will ever, ever, address as Honorable again.
Kudos Anthony and I admire your integrity in sticking to your word .A true statesman.
I can see it now, Ezzard, Eden, Mclean and of course Big Mac joining forces, kicking out PPM and new political group formed…. LOL just like to good old days!!!
I have always known Mr. Eden to be a man to stand by his beliefs and one with what he believed to be the best interests of his country and his people at heart. In a day and age of wishy-washy flip-flopping liars and promise breakers, he stands as a breath of fresh air in an acrid political climate. I give him ten thumbs up on this issue! Well done, well said Mr. Eden!
This is why Mr Anthony Eden has always and will always get my vote. Whist I dont support PPM I opted to go with the lesser of two evils and gave another PPM candidate my vote…. This will not happen again.
There is a BIG difference between toe and tow, ain't that right Capt. Hulka?
Tony; always a man of his word and a man of principle. That's why he never loses an election in Bodden Town. Thanks Tony. Wish all policitians could be like you.
Thank you Eden for standing up. The rest of you bozos in PPM and C4U please wait to be run over by the voting public. Wether you have OMOV or the old system in 2017- we'll make sure you lot are done….. and that includes every single one of you PPM fools- except Eden.
The big question is WWJD?
(What Would Johann Do?)
Non entity
I fully support OMOV.
BUT! I want to see a proper alignment of districts so that each one has approximately the same number of voters.
For example: EE and NS should become one district (for the purposes of voting) and have one representative. Otherwise they go from being underrepresented in the LA to being OVERrepresented. May even need to include part of BT to give them enough numbers.
You're exactly right, but this is exactly why Ezzard, Arden and Al were trying to get this through before these type of adjustments are figured out.
Sure glad PPM was able to stop Ezzard's selfish move.
Listen carefully Moses. You proomised OMOV as laid out now deliver and stop the excuses to hold onto power.
I don't mind each district voting in their representative. What I do mind is how the Premier if this country is selected. It should be that everybody participates in electing the Premier that way when he messes up, "we" can boot them out by recall vote! To this date we don't have that prevelege. Shame shame shame…
Some of the younger MLA's should follow Anthony's lead. They could learn a lot from him. Good for you Anthony.
Okay- I rant and rave, but really HAVE to aks….WHY do we need political parties in a population of 65,000 again? Have we seen very qualified white collar Caymanians passed over for crony expat favours? (yup) have we seen a reduction and responsible spending (nope) are we better off in the global stage due to our leader (nah) so Again, WHY are we following these fools?
Good for YOU Mr. Eden you had a great grandfather as a Governor and you are making all those that came before you proud by being a man of your word and not a weak sheep. Shame on the PPM/UDP/C4C and these party power playboys and shame on the people that think voting them in and following a party line will help their families- it is time to stop the party and think like a well run small 65,000 population.
Thank you Mr. Eden. A man or morals.
The core of real democracy is one person one vote, but the Cayman Island assembly is frightened of it, they say the right words, some of them some of the time, but when the time comes for them to act, even those that used to support it back off. Despicable! Congratulations to Eden for standing by his principles.
Marco, Al, Wayne you should hang your head in shame for failing to keep your word on smc's. Mr. Eden is a man among a group of boys who fail to understand they represent the people. We will not forget this betrayal.
The Regressives are now yes men for Aldiin not interested in the people just power
Mr. Eden a real man who keeps his word! Thank you sir!
It sounds like a great name for a punk band: Little Mac and the Regressives
I admire Mr. Eden and his decision to do the right thing. I would venture to guess that he sleeps well at night knowing that his conscience is clear.
Agreed!
I'm so dissapointed (though not completely surprised) as I listened to Governments weak arguments Re: both OPOV / SMC's and a $5.00 hr minimum wage this week.
Nothing but greed and self interest espoused!
Don't forget Joey, Winston,Tara and Roy, all first-time elected members.
Did you mean "one-time elected, soon to be former members"? The techincal term for that type of MLA is a "Tara".
Don't forget what about them?
To miss them when they're gone?
I said it before and I will say it again… Mr. Eden is one of the very few elected representatives with any integrity.
Thank you anthony for being a man of your word, something lacking in your fellow party members.
Hear Hear! Hello Sheep, the two -party system is nothing but a sham.
A true statesman and a fine example for young elected polititians. It should always be for love of country first not love of party.
Marco, Al and Wayne in chorus "Now that I have been elected, I seem to like the electoral system a lot more".
Wayne and Marco are bound by collective responsibility.
Alden should have released them all to vote their conscience. When the people went to the polls 65% voted yes they were not bound by anything. PPM broke their promise as a group and individually. With the exeption of Anthony and Al. End of story.
Only if they were a minority in Cabinet and wanted to vote yes. There's seven people in Cabinet -Alden, Kurt, Marco, Osbourne, Tara, Moses and Wayne. For collective responsibility to apply, at least four of them would have had to vote no. You're trying to say that some – Marco and Wayne – wanted to vote yes but couldn't. How do you know that? And if you know so much, can you say for certain that the other five wanted to vote no?
Al said he was prepared to accept the compromise of fewer SMC's and At Large members, but he also said it was time to keep his promise!
Al needs to be more concerned about the details of what voting system we end up with than playing politics with Ezzard.
There is no need to rush a critical issue like this …. except of course so Al can find out who he needs to start campaigning to and Ezzard wants to be sure his district doesn't get combined with Ardens!
Aren't you all jumping too fast on this- it hasn't been voted on yet.
Al checked the thumbs on CNS and realised he might have to doa real job in a couple of years time if he did not vote for OMOV.