Clock ticks on MLA increase
(CNS): Government is running out of time to make its decision on how Cayman will vote for the three extra members of the parliament at the May 2013 General Election. The deputy supervisor of elections said Thursday that although the office has considered, and is prepared for, almost any eventuality that the government could opt for, it must make a decision before 12 December. Colford Scott said the governor had confirmed that the election writ, which defines how many candidates are returned and where, will be issued on 12 December so the Elections Office needs to know by then the shape of the 2013 election landscape.
Speaking to the press on Thursday about the preparations the Elections Office is making for next year’s national poll, the deputy supervisor said the office has not been given any indication by government what option it is likely to pursue. He said the office had examined all of the possibilities and was prepared for almost anything but by 12 December it must know what that “anything” is.
“It would be very difficult to accommodate any changes after that point,” said Scott, as he pointed out that the writ actually states how many candidates are to be returned and where. He explained that if government reached12 December without having made the order in relation to the Boundary Commission Report 2010, the office would be missing the tools it needed to carry out the election process.
The Boundary Commission came up with three options in its report, and following the referendum on one man-one vote in July, the premier proposed a fourth option whereby the islands would be divided into nine constituencies, each with two representatives and each voter having two votes.
The fifth option, which CNS understands is finding favour with some elected members of government, is that proposed by the two independent members, Ezzard Miller and Arden McLean, of deferring the expansion of the House until 2017 and retaining the current 15 members. This would mean that the size of Cabinet could not increase, even though the role of finance minister has been passed to the elected arm of the administration.
Scott explained that if government decided to retain the fifteen members of parliament, it would need to apply to the UK to change the Cayman Islands Constitution 2009 as it currently requires an increase in the size of the country’s legislature at the 2013 General Election.
If a decision is made to retain the status quo, in order for the writ to be lawful on 12 December, the government will have to address that issue with the FCO and ultimately the Privy Counsel.
However, if government opts to add the three seats, it must decide where and how they will be fitted into Grand Cayman.
Based on the current population, the Boundary Commission made three recommendations. The first was for 18 single member constituencies along the boundaries defined in its report; the second was the creation of a seventh new electoral district between Bodden Town and George Town, which would have three representatives; and the third was to add two seats to the existing George Town constituency and one to Bodden Town.
At first, the premier indicated his preference for the third option and brought the report and an order to the Legislative Assembly for debate last year; however, the drafting of the order created some legal implications which forced government to withdraw the documents.
As pressure built in the community for one man, one vote, government organised a national poll and Cayman had a national referendum in July. Although the majority of voters said ‘Yes’, the government opted to treat the poll as a people-initiated referendum and required 50% of all registered voters to vote ‘Yes’ and not just a simple majority.
Acknowledging that the idea of voters in George Town having six votes while others had one was not satisfactory, in the wake of the referendum result, Premier McKeeva Bush proposed the idea of creating nine double-member constituencies following the current single member boundaries and then merging them into pairs.
This would comply with the Boundary Commission's findings regarding the population across West Bay, George Town and most of Bodden Town, but North Side, East End and the eastern side of Bodden Town would have to be merged into one two-member district to make the voter numbers equal.
Although Bush said a committee would be appointed to examine this option, to date there has been no further developments regarding the proposal.
Members of the Legislative Assembly are scheduled to return to the country’s parliament on 5 November, when government faces an already packed legislative agenda and there has been no indication of how long members will sit.
Government’s priority will be to steer through laws that will enable the collection of revenue it needs to balance the public books during this financial year, but in order to meet the election deadline the government will also need to find time to finally decide how Cayman’s electorate will decide on its next government.
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Category: Politics
If we have 18 there's a better chance one will be on island when an actual decision has to be made. Of course we'll still have to get them out of bed or off their fishing boat.
It is not too late for them to do the peoples will and have the next election One Man One Vote and the referendum overwhelmingly showed the people want.
What percentage of the registered voters voted in favor of "one man one vote"?
http://www.electionsoffice.ky/downloads/referendum2012/tallyreferendum2012.pdf
We do not need 18 seats now. he government and everydepartment is claiming crook, cant support its people and cutting government wages 3 and half %. So why , you tell me why and what we are going to pay them with to have 18 seats next year.
Mr Bush, please do not do it. Wait until the Island is in a better condition. We are really bad off now. We cannot afford it, besides, there is not enough work for the extra seats. Caymanians take good advice, leave it as it is for now, and let us see what happen in 5 years time if we are in any better condition.
The Mac has already tipped his had!
The 3 seats will go tp GT, BT, and WB.
In the UK, MPs receive £65,738 a year ($CI 85,110). A recent survey shows that in 14 other democracies, including France, US, Spain and Japan, the average pay for MPs or their equivalent, is £86,000 ($CI 111,340).
Cayman’s MLAs earn considerably more than $111,340 and most of them do considerably less than an MP representing tens of thousands of constituents – in fact a number of them appear to do absolutely nothing. This is a farcical situation.
A review, carried out by Sir Ian Kennedy, chairman of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, will look at raising the pensionable age and abolishing the final-salary scheme for MPs.
A similar review is needed in Cayman.
Corruption is the elephant in the room. No one wants to talk about it.
The Speaker has taken steps to ensure that it is not fairly discussed in the Legislative Assembly.
eRRR, lets do a value for money assessment to see if the current 15 are worth it.
1. Is the government governing efficiently and effectively?
2. Is the opposition opposing constructively and effectively?
3. How would the increase in seats to 18 members actually improve the lives of the Caymanian people?
4. Would these improvements be so significant that they justify the increased costs?
Yea and when doing the assessments please also assess all senior civil servants' salaries to make sure there is value for money. And, make sure it is done from the top down! The astronomical salaries those people make should be reduced and much will be saved on the national budget, not forgetting that pension payouts are calculated on the final salary when they retire.
With the current 15 MLA's with an incompetence rate of 93.33% (Mr. Miller, you're doing a
great job – you're the 6.67%) we do not need three more of their kind.
Its a shame that the best suitable people the possess the right quailities of being a great
MLA and leaders of this country are those that dont have the financial means / support and
cannot afford to take the financial risk otherwise.
Your post has much sense in it Thunder Storm but you blew it by mentioning Miller in the context of a great MLA and leader. Which part of him do you admire – the anti expat bit, the "Caymanians are the smartest people in the world" bit, the harking back to a time long gone whether we like it or not bit, the bounty on the head of parrots to assist farmers bit or wha?
However many MLA’s it is decided that we are to elect, PLEASE MAKE SURE that each district gets their fair share of votes as per registered voters in each district. For example, at present West Bay gets four reps and G.T. Gets four reps. This is highly inequitable since the district of George Town has thousands more voters than West Bay. But, guess what, McKeeva wants to KEEP it this way cause it is to his great advantage. This is probably why he is going to dilly dally around until it is too late to get fair representation based on population in George Town. Don’t let McKeeva get away with this yet again or we might just have more of the same which equals “WEST BAY RULES!”. Personally I’m sick of of letting West Bay decide our political future – aren’t you?
We don't want anymore MLAs period. Not in GT,WB,NS,CYB & LYB,or East End or BT. If McKeeva adds anymore, he'll probably add them to WB not GT. I would fight against adding any cause it's not like the ones that we have in now are doing anything.
For a moment when I saw the headline I thought maybe those rascals were about to award themselves a hefty pay increase.(Readers will recall that Kurt addressed the rising cost of living by doing so a few years back with some rubbish about the "prestige" of his position.)
Sorry to be so cynical but I wouldn't put anything past this present lot of self-serving parasites. We need men and women of integrity so badly.
Anon 9:28 you got East End wrong…expalin how you see UDP getting a seat in that district?…you obviously dont know that district.
Allow the 2004 status grant recipients to run for office, they are Caymanians now and thanks Mr. McLaughlin they have human rights now. We need a new set of politicians, just like most of the members of the LA now gave us new citizens and a new way of live. We need to change just like the politician gave us the Caymanians in 2004. We need to vote the new Caymanians in the LA. It is now time for a change in the LA.
The 2003 status grant recipients will have to qualify to run for office same as everyone else – get naturalised and drop any foreign citizenship. Seeing that many of them were highly questionable there is no good reason why they should have some special exemption. If anything the test should be more stringent for them.
You want to know who is gonna chase the incumbent outa town eh, you’ll see. Tell him to pick up he brindle and leave and go don’t come here no more, ya hear
WE CANNOT AFFORD THREE MORE SEATS!!!!!
Let the 15 we currently have step up to the plate and actually get their jobs done first before we go and add any more unnecessary expenses!!
I heard Elvis Mckeever say something today that is so true, He said He dont understand our Govt, They are feeding the lazy people and locking the mental ones in prison and you know what ? It makes you really think whats goin on in these islands and also makes you know why we are not prospering anymore…. Nuff said!!!!!
Caymanians…if all the usual suspects/dross stand for election again (plus at least 3 new) then start a campaign, as per the film, "None of the Above" and dont elect any of them…
Alternately get all those bright, intelligent and wordly wise Caymanians (women are generally more trustworthy), and there quite a few of those around, to stand and change the landscape of Cayman politics. If we keep going with more of the same, the only thing left to count will be the iguanas and coconuts!!
How many various high salaries is Colford Scott collecting now?
NRA Chairman
Director, Brac PWD
Project Manager, Brac illegal paving project
Deputy Supervisor of Elections
plus collecting pension benefits.
While he and Julianna force employee cuts at the NRA (thru reducing the budget but saying it is not compulsory, WTF?!) and NRA staff that have been let go are scrambling to make ends meet and feed their children.
How about everyone just votes for the ten people they trust the most, and the ten with the highest number of votes become the government with a rotating chairman, and we do away completely with career politicians and party politics?
Three more snouts in the trough, oink oink
Never mind how we vote for them, how do we vote AGAINST them?
Mac not going anywhere if he sticks with 15 seats….it is more likely that he can maintain 8 rather than win 10 seats as this govt is not strong.
At least one of the three small fries in the west looking shaky. = UDP 3
In town, the real battleground, Mike may hang on or Steelio (The Man of Steel). UDP = 1….but if there are six seats in town UDP can get 2.
BT = UDP 1 if they lucky….obviously that would be Mark….if there are 4 seats in BT UDP can get 2.
NS = UDP none. Say what you will, Ezzard has done an outstanding job as a representative.
EE = UDP 1, if PPM runs a candidate against The Action Man.
CYB = Julie looks like she in for life. Govt spent more money in CYB than they spent in George Town, our capital over the past 4 years….From Hurricane Hilton, to highways to driveways…dont forget the Brac International Airport expansion.
Summary if 15 seats :UDP = 7
If 18 seats UDP = 9
This is not about what is best for the country, its a high stakes numbers game where the person with the majority wins.
The million dollar question is who do youthink is more cunning to cut a deal with the independents to gain the majority; Mac or Alden?
Very hopeful as regards your UDP numbers, I am more of a
UDP = 0
I truly believe this is what will happen and anything else is a vote for incompetence and corruption on a grand scale
Which hopefully means that the investigations of missappropriated funds cranks up and the right pure hearted clean handed honorable forever people go to prison
Aint no UDP in EE mehson.
Just UDP 'Independent' vote splitters who hope to gain support by inheritance.
Who is the UDP candidate for EE? John McLean, Jr.?
It would be sensible for one or at most two strong independents AND no-one else to stand against the UDP in West Bay. That way the anti-UDP vote will not be diluted and there is a chance one or two of their banker seats will go. Without a clean sweep in WB Mac and his merry puppets will have no chance of re-election.
Eighteen MLA's to represent 55,000 people is completely ludicrous.
So is the number we have right now.
Everyone should understand by now that Cayman has to severely cut the size and cost of its government, the cost of which is destroying the economy. And each MLA costs a lot when you include salary, benefits, office, pension, travel, and perks.
Rather than increase the number of MLAs, we should reduce the number, say by 50%
They are not even representing 55,000 people.
They are representing 18,000 voters and probably far less after actual registration and turnout – and half of those won't have even voted for them.
These guys can get in on the whim of a half a dozen voters.
There are only about 16,000 registered voters that are represented.
The other 40,000 residents have no say in this, but pay the same taxes.
1. Cayman does not have 56,000 residents.
2. Of the approximately 50,000 that it does have many will be children and so would not be eligible to vote in any event.
3. There are probably at least 20,000 who are either registered or eligible to be registered. Some are in the process of being registered. Others choose not to register.
4. There are some 20,000 work permit holders who are by definition transients.
5. The right to vote has nothing to do with paying taxes. That is true not only in Cayman but also in the UK, the US, Canada and Australia.
I agree that we should postpone the addition of 3 more MLAs, but it is not "completely ludicrous" to have 18 or 15 MLAs for 55,000 people. Bermuda has 36 elected representatives for 70,000 people. Jersey has 87,000 people and 53 elected representatives.
It is simply not feasible to reduce the number of representatives by 50%.
You want representation, you want roads,schools,hospital airplane, food clothing shelter you want ministries that are not efficiently run, you want to make fun of ministers when they don’t do the things you want hem to do because you elected them not recognizing that there are too many portfolios assigned to the ministers therefore they cannot do justice to all of them in a. 4 year term. You want good governance of police who do their jobs responsibly as should the Politicos and ya want it ALL FOR FREE The culture of entitlement is alive and kicking.
Anon 0931 when talking about a culture of entitlement in the cayman islands one usually refers to the caymanian people themselves. But in the context you are talking even the expats wants everything for free.
Make Government increase any fees do you hear just caymanians crying?
Everyonewants Government to do its job but dont want to pay. I will grant you that there is still waste in Government but by an large this is true. we all want things for free.
Why in Gods name would we want more politicians! They want to reduce the Civil Service by cutting down the little road workers whom i may add takes 4 or 5 of them combined to make up the salary of one of our many political slaggers. I would rather have, filled pot holes than more jet setters trotting the globe for reasons that only the intellectual man cannot comprehend! If you listen to these people speak one has to seriously wonder about their sanity and whats scary even moreso is that they seem to believe the BS they peddle to the public, its like watching someone beating their head against a stone wall expecting it to one day give way. I think we should have a fresh late of young Caymanian talent steering this vessel out of the storm and into clear waters, translation (not the UDP or the PPM)
Does anybody really believe that bush is going to push through an increase in the number of MLA’s – it is only going to make it even more certain that whatever about HIM being re-elected in WB, there isn’t a hope in Hell of him being appointed Premier in the 2013 government.
I have long said that we DO NOT need an increase in MLAs and for that matter any more cabinet members.Having said that I know that the new constitution says an increase must come BUT at what cost to this countries pockets?Lets look at the work load that the present members do.Oh I forgot they hardly ever meet and when they do its for a token amount of time so what are we paying these folks for?We have a population of say around 60'000 people and to have 15 representatives for that population is to my mind is crazy so can you imagine what it will be like to have 18?Can you imagine if all of them speak to a certain bill in the house how long that would take and to hear the words"Madame Speaker"hundreds of times?Oh but wait thats what we will be paying them for.Lets start by decreasing the salaries of all present members to pay for the new members coming in this will help to ease the burden of tax payers in this country.Spread out the Port Folios of Cabinet so that they can concentrate on doing a better job.But wait that will mean that certain Cabinet members will get more time off to enjoy the side trips to all these so called conferences.Well what we have here is a definate problem so what direction do we take?I guess we could just sit back and hope for the best BUT that is certainly not the right answer but if we let it remain the same we will still not be any better off.I for one would like to see more independent members in the house so that the party system would be a thing of the past.We have become a divided nation because of the PPM and UDP parties and its certainly time for a change.Not one elected govt has worked fully with the opposition and this MUST STOP.The island MUST come first for that is what we elected them for in the first place and if that cannot be done then its time for a change of direction and lets get properly qualified people in the house that will run this country like a BUSINESS for that is what is so sadly lacking today.
500,000 CI extra a year on MLA salaries…Smart
With the Premier and Deputy Premier always off somewhere its hard to justify new MLAs, but if we have to have them then may I suggest a Minister of Stay Home and a Minister of Answer Questions.
Let the professional members of the civil service assist the MLAs without increasing the numbers of politicians at the trough. It is senseless to increase the size of government when the size of the government now is too large.
Cutting expenses is the goal not to increase the size.
Please may we have a referendum to DECREASE the number of MLA's? I mean we got too many already and its a complete waste of OUR money. Better still let us vote to get rid of them all, wipe the slate, reduce their payscales, ban the double-dipping, and start all over with single member constituencies?
Let us save some money and keep with the satus quo.
The cost of 3 new MLAs will not be offset by any new benefits save the theoretical arguments of better representation.
In fact, we should cut the number of MLAs down to 7 or 9. The costs of their wages and benefits would then be more in line with the value they add to the society.