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Social justice
My pastor, Bishop Dolbert A. Clarke, in a sermon blessed by the Holy Spirit on December 23rd, 2012 said that 2013 would be a good year and a time of change for us all. I agree with my beloved pastor and I want my people to know that, although the publication of my letters in The Caymanian Compass have now been censored by the editor and the announcement of my candidacy for one of the 6 seats in George Town in 2013 censored as well, that I, like a tree standing by the water, refuses to be moved.
2013 is going to be a year filled with God’s blessings and I am asking my friends to assist me in communicating with those wanting and willing to see change which will create social justice and economic fairness for all. In 2013 our challenges will not become fewer just by changing government once again but our challenges will become fewer when we rediscover the tolerance, respect and collective social responsibility for each other we once had in these islands.
Love will not come simply by ridding ourselves of those with faults only to replace us with individuals whose sole intention it is to destroy the government assistance to the poor and needy that people like me struggled todeliver over the years, and to punish civil servants without care our attention to their needs as Caymanians, simply because they are afraid that the present financial demands by the poor and needy on government will lead to direct taxation and a lifting of the negative impact indirect taxation has had on us the working and middle classes.
In 2013 we have much more to do than to provide those who benefitted so much over the years from “Bush” rule with the golden opportunity to place our government solidly in the hands of a younger group of merchants and professionals whose values and desires were formed and moulded by our new and all powerful cooperate culture – a culture which intrudes and imposes its values and principles of self-first and self-last on all strata of society.
These young and restless individuals have now dreamt up other ways of disguising discrimination, intolerance and social injustice in our social and economic systems because it has never been their wish to educate our people politically and ethically since they see political enlightenment as too mammoth a task. Furthermore, education of the majority is not accomplishable within the timeframe they are accustomed to operating under while imparting professional advice at so high a price that none of us have affordedtheir services up until now.
These new political hopefuls are calling themselves Independents or persons putting country first, although they remained cooperation loyalists all these years while our country faulted. For all of these years they found it not to their or their country’s benefit to sacrifice earnings from their professions in order to fight to prevent our country from being mismanaged by those they now despise. These new hopefuls blame previous politicians for that which is wrong in Cayman, as if human greed is a curse only of the politicians who were in office before those finally cursing them decided to run for office.
It is truly sad that politics in Cayman remains an art of deception, therefore for real change to come, it must come from those of us who are outsiders for one reason of the other.
We hear political hopefuls saying that they will only take the risk of running for office if they are sure to be elected because the punishment that one who fails must endure in our nation is too horrific to one and one’s family to try and fail. This is so true and one reason why they should understand why my fight for change and social justice from 1980, when I first sought a seat in George Town, until this date has made me a controversial “character”, as Wendy Ledger from the Cayman News Service insists on labelling me.
Of course, I prefer to call myself an outsider, and as outsiders we must consistently and convincingly hold before the eyes of the entire society our vision of social justice and the change needed to achieve these human values. Therefore, our platform for May 2013 is to continue the fight for the social, economic, political and ethical security for the real people of this country. This will be achieved through the education of our people rather than concealing from them the real facts of their condition. I have always put their interest first and this will entail a restructuring and realignment of their socio-economic and cultural positions in relationship to the dominant foreign owners and managers of our economy and socio-cultural systems.
As a representative I will again place the restructuring of labour and rehabilitation at the top of my agenda by creating a Ministry of Human Resources and Rehabilitation. I will fight to have the prisons placed under that minister and become her or his advisor. I will use the labour law approved of in 2004 and then ignored as the basis for a new labour law. I will fight to make immigration reforms that would change the work permit system by making it possible to grant employment certificates for categories of employment or professions and allow them to beused by the holder, who would now pay for the certificate to be employed in their approved profession by any employer, thereby creating productive and fair competition between employers and more ethical treatment of employees, regardless of nationality.
My restructuring efforts will impact the cost of labour and treatment of workers in the workplace, thereby leading to the creation of a more level playing field for Caymanian workers, who are very aware that our negative work permit system is a form of indentured servitude that has for decades kept their wages low and their employment possibilities few. This will be implemented jointly with the restructuring of immigration to deal with border security issues only and moving their clerical support to the department of Human Resources and Rehabilitation, creating its departments into competent and genuine human resource management and development agencies. I will create different employment certificate costs for Caymanian small business, whether restaurants or small law and accounting firms.
I will assist with the fight against crime by amending the relevant laws to allow the court to sentence juveniles and some young adults to marine duty with the mandate of protecting our coastal waters and shores and re-employ former Caymanian uniform branches’members to head up these crime prevention and rehabilitation efforts.
This will be a one strike and you out programme that will utilize the neighbourhood and school gang leadership structure. They will be made to assist in manning part of our security apparatus and this will entail re-defining the values and objectives of the most deeply rooted forms of organizations existing in our grass root communities. If the sea is what made our forefathers then it will be the sea that will reform our youths.
The prison farm will be renamed The Fatherland Rehabilitation Farm and become a training and re-socialisation camp for our youths. And I will continued my struggle to have the political, cultural and economic contributions of all the diverse nationalities that now legitimately form our Fatherland given equal consideration in our community and make sure that the new members of our small nation can voice and live their values without fear of discrimination or exclusion.
These things I pray God will assist me in moving in the hearts and minds of other independent minded individuals so, if elected in May 2013, they will become achievable.
Lest you forget
As I begin this article, an old joke comes to mind: A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to theground into a large field. While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some steaming hot dung on him. As the frozen bird lay there covered in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was. The dung was thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy.
A passing cat heard the singing bird and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.
There are 3 morals to the story:
(1) Not everyone who shits on you is your enemy.
(2) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend.
(3) And when you're throat-deep in shit, it is best to keep your mouth shut!
The Nuremberg and subsequent lesser-known war trials held by the Allied Forces after the end of World War II were organized to punish the remaining surviving members of the Nazi leadership. The idea that Hitler did not operate in a vacuum, that he did not act alone, but was in fact willingly supported by millions of his people was widely accepted by the world. It did not matter whether Hitler controlled the most prominent members of his regime through fear, intimidation, or charm; the point was irrelevant.
Members of his regime were not mere spectators, as many tried to argue later, but willing participants. All were directly and indirectly implicit in many of Hitler's crimes. Even today, men across the world are still being hunted for being participants in the horrors of the Second World War. Among these are what one could argue low-ranking individuals who played minor roles — regardless of their rank, and rightly so, they are still being held accountable.
For the four years that McKeeva Bush was premier of the Cayman Islands, and the leader of government, he also did not act alone. Among his most ardent supporters were the UDP 5. They, along with McKeeva's remaining motley UDP crew, provided Bush with the power base that allowed him to maintain control. McKeeva could have been a simple footnote in history had they withdrawn their support four years ago, once they realized that he did not follow commonly-accepted procedures. But, out of self-interest, they explicitly and tacitly allowed McKeeva to act with impunity and do as he pleased.
As many have correctly argued across various CNS forums, the little reform that the UDP 5 have recently demonstrated is far too little and far too late. The UDP 5 are not the martyrs that they now want the world to believe they are. The fact that they jumped ship last minute and thus somehow saved the country is absurd. It was pure self-interest at its best once again. Beside, had they not ousted the premier, events certainly would have. The only certainty in this matter is that the premier was going to go down, one way or another. Though McKeeva may have some miracles left in his bag of tricks, none were available fast enough to help him having to give up his coveted throne.
It is a shame to see how quickly some people fail to understand and remember. The five former UDP martyrs are not martyrs at all — they were willing conspirators in McKeeva Bush' failed regime. To try to somehow argue that they jumped ship out of love for country is laughable and comical. Not only did they not repent for their past sins, they haven't even bothered to provide the slightest explanation to the public for their blind support of McKeeva for so many years.
Perhaps it's out of hubris — that they're somehow above having to explain anything to the public; perhaps it's out of sense of shame … I doubt either is true. My belief is that they have no explanation; that they're guilty as charged. Unlike McKeeva though, the UDP 5 have learned that when you're throat-deep in shit, it is best to keep your mouth shut.
A test of character
“Fame is a vapor, popularity is an accident, riches take wings, those who cheer today may curse tomorrow and only one thing endures – character.” – Harry S. Truman. As I reflect on events of the past months, and especially on the events of the past week, the above quote rings especially true in my view. Mr Bush faced a test of character after his arrest and failed miserably when he did not stand down of his own volition.
Admittedly few of us thought he understood that the right thing to do was to stand down, but we hoped nonetheless. He made this failure worse when, after being asked to step down by the colleagues who stood by and defended him over many years, he selfishly refused to listen to their counsel and pleas. Happily they finally realized, even if Mr Bush did not, that it was in the best interest of their party, their government, possibly their political careers, and in the best interest of the country that Mr Bush should leave the post of premier after being arrested.
His refusal to do the right thing by the people of the country left his cabinet and backbench members with two choices. Either to continue to blindly support Mr Bush staying in office and risk further harm to the country’s reputation, or to support the Progressives' (PPM’s) Lack of Confidence motion and thereby join the opposition members in voting down the government — and in so doing to send a message to the world that the parliament and people of the Cayman Islands would not stand by and ignore the arrest of a sitting premier on suspicion of serious offences.
Fortunately for the country, five of the UDP’s elected members finally stopped blindly following Mr Bush. Three, sadly in my opinion, decided that loyalty to Mr Bush came before loyalty to country. These three helped embolden Mr Bush and helped create the events that unfolded in the Legislative Assembly. I suspect that history may be kinder to the five than it will be to the three.
Few politicians in Cayman’s history have been as divisive as Mr Bush. Indeed in my opinion he has been a destructive political force for too long and with his recent actions he may end up destroying his own party. If Mr Bush had stepped aside he could have done so while still confirming his innocence but stating he was doing this for the country.
There would have been an orderly transfer of power to the deputypremier, with perhaps Cline Glidden (given his experience) taking a ministry position and Mike Adam remaining in cabinet. Mr Bush’s party would be intact, the country would have been saved the drama, and perhaps Mr Bush and his supporters could seek to claim a high moral ground with his ‘sacrifice’ for country. Instead, the events played out as they did this week and with a new government now being formed with the “UDP 5”.
Whilst I am happy that the “UDP 5” finally did the right thing and help the opposition evict Mr Bush from office, I cannot forget that they, and others, helped to prop him up through all these years, despite the many issues that surrounded Mr Bush and his UDP administration.
The “UDP5” should also not forget the part they played in helping support and embolden Mr Bush and I pray that they think long and hard on the lessons learned. Hopefully, the tone of their first press conference along with a promise to act more transparently, and follow correct process, is an indication that they have learned those lessons. Alas the “UDP 3” have shown that no lessons were learned and, as such, I suspect that their political futures will end in May 2013.
I will end by returning to the theme of character and give Mr McLaughlin his due. I listened to his debate in the LA and again later that night on TV. He continued the approach he took after the arrest. His comments were appropriate and measured and he repeated that he preferred that the UDP had resolved this matter quickly without the Legislative Assembly needing to.
His tone and approach to this serious matter was statesmanlike in my viewand in the end he and the Progressives played a huge part in assisting this matter to come to a productive end. He has not gloated or rejoiced, or looked to take any huge credit; and this has helped cement in my mind, and I am sure in the minds of many, the character of the man.
Further cementing the view of Mr McLaughlin’s character is the manner in which he has steadily moved forward, putting together a team of quality, capable new candidates with varied backgrounds and good reputations, to compliment the current sitting MLAs. The fact that these individual are also willing to work with him, some choosing the Progressives even after approaches from the UDP and the C4C, is also an indication of the character of the man.
Since taking on the leadership of the Progressives the arrows sent his way have increased but he has stood steadfast and continued moving forward. Those who say they prefer someone more flamboyant than Mr McLaughlin need only look at where Mr Bush’s flamboyancy got us. I will take thoughtful and steady leadership any day over brashness and flamboyancy.
In my view Mr McLaughlin, and his team of Progressive candidates understand what President Truman meant by “… only one thing endures – Character.”
Temporary relief
That the UDP would let it all come down to this is not that much of a surprise. When I said in a previous viewpoint some months ago that the members of this group were much more likely to go down with a sinking ship, it was quietly hoped that they would at least jump before it truly sank. But the ship has sunk, is starting to rust and is full of seaweeds. And four members are still on it.
The actions of the entire UDP team before and during this recent debacle had proven that they were not of the character to act quickly and in a principled manner as is the expectation across the globe when a similar crisis occurs in political leadership. They were never being asked to incriminate the premier or suggest that he had done anything wrong, just to behave as any self-respecting politician (sorry if that’s an oxymoron) would in the circumstances.
If nothing else, this just cements in every voter's mind that the UDP has no place in the Legislative Assembly, has no business running for office next year and should go down in history as one of the worse political train wrecks this country has ever experienced.
Why Mike Adam, Rolston Anglin, Mark Scotland, Cline Glidden, Dwayne Seymour, and Jullianna O’Conor Connolly who, on the face of it (and despite one or two issues between them) seem to be reasonable individuals, failed to do the right thing on the Tuesday afternoon immediately after the premier was arrested seems inexplicable. Why Eugene Ebanks and Ellio Solomon failed to step up (and now remain at Bush's side along with Adam) is more easily explained; one does not do or say much about anything and the other is perceived by many as an inexperienced upcoming political opportunist who is apparently incapable of dealing with such matters of national importance.
The main issue that the UDP members face now is that they acted too late to save face or maintain any credibility. They should not have waited until Mr Bush had completed his questioning on Wednesday, they should not have waited for him to run off to Jamaica to "speak on integrity" while on police bail, and they should have remained as a group of eight in the LA a week later instead of toppling in the name of political cronyism.
The result does suggest that the man of the hour has ruled seemingly with an iron fist and had become so impenetrable and dictatorial that fear must have been the only explanation. Fear of political bullying, political persecution, fear of him abusing his office to their disadvantage and fear that his so-styled ‘coat tails’ would not be there for them to ride on during the upcoming election campaign.
And while none of this has to do with his presumed innocence, which is a matter for the courts, we can say, just based on his performance in office, that the country now seems immediately better off because of his removal. Because while we don’t know the number, the political removal of McKeeva Bush is very likely a huge relief for many, some for personal reasons and others for sake of country.
The governor must now act quickly because the prospect of five cabinet members limping along without a House majority does not bode well for Cayman. Call early elections and let the people sort this out.
In terms of politics and poor leadership, the curtain has certainly been drawn on McKeeva Bush because, while he has survived this type of thing before, he is unlikely to repeat a come back at this stage of his political career. At the same time, we must be wary of what occurs now as far as the formal case is concerned. If the RCIPS and other authorities are proven to be less than competent in their dealings on this case, we will certainly see the largest financial settlement ever in the country’s history because there should be no doubt that the former premier (as he has the right to do) will secure competent attorneys to handle his case.
So, as far as the ‘big man’ goes, the ‘fat lady’ has not quite sung yet, but at least the country is now certain that a political resolution will surface when the people go to the polls sometime between February and May of 2013. Too bad the UDP didn’t act quickly or responsibly enough to spare us the circus act.
Calling we ‘them’ and them ‘we’
Ringing in our ears is the call for change. But is this desired change one which will but change our present elected representatives? Or will this change go further by identifying and eradicating the power and control our political handlers have enjoyed for decades? For I trust that our young people in particular understand that party politics did not create the economic and moral decline of our islands; in fact the opposite occurred.
Party politics came about as one of several consequences of a society ripe with greed, strife and divisions.
I have often asked myself if we really live in the same country and mean the same things when we use the words Cayman Islands. Is there so little left of our once communal existence and cultural values that forty years after development begun we cannot collectively define ourselves, who we are and what we stand for in our political, cultural or moral arenas? And many of our young people find themselves so chick that they spend their free time using technology to ridicule those that are not so chick rather than looking into where they came from.
Why would any sensible person believe that the question of political belief and conduct could be discussed before any meaningful discussion about personal, cultural and social values? Some of us have definitely placed the horse before the cart by trying to return to the way politics was organized in the past without understanding the meaning of the past to many of those who lived it.
Any way forward must take history into consideration but it seems that our distain for history, or at least our history, remains deeply ingrained even as we begin to speak of change. The question remains however, change from what to what and to benefit whom? Politics is about the ‘we’ not the ‘I’ and most times about ‘them and us’, so without some knowledge of our history or Caymanian history the new agents of change might very well mix ‘we’ and ‘them’ up calling we ‘them’ and them ‘we’.
I love the sounds of change. The things it could mean. But this change must come not only to the political arena, it must come to every aspect of our lives. And it would not be too harmful if we began to seek change firstly within ourselves.
There are great possibilities ahead for the young and old. But those that collectively guide the change that is a coming must make sure that this change is not just a consequence of our present history of denial and divisions but a conscious attempt to know ourselves and that which is good in others.
Clean hands & pure heart
If the allegations against Premier McKeeva Bush are proven correct, he will go down in this country’s history as a liar and a crook. But if they are not proven correct, what happens then? He and his party carry on the same? I don’t think so. Relying on the legal axiom of “innocent unless proven guilty” isn’t good enough when you are in high public office.
Public office is a position of trust and power and we expect those in positions of trust and power to be held to a higher standard of conduct than the rest of us. They have to be accountable and transparent in their private dealings and it goes without saying that we expect them to avoid any conflicts between their public duties and their private interests. If such a conflict does arise we rightly expect that they will proactively declare their interest, remove themselves from any decision making role in which their impartiality might be compromised, and make sure there is a paper trail to provethe true nature of any payments. If their integrity is questioned we expect them to come forward and explain themselves or step aside until the issues are resolved.
We don’t know much about the allegations McKeeva Bush is facing. We do know that he received a payment from Stan Thomas at a time when Thomas wanted the Cayman government to rezone some of his land and that the explanations and documents McKeeva has produced have not convinced everyone. We know that he used his position to try and have some improperly imported dynamite released to a business owner and again the explanations have not answered all the questions.
And we have heard rumors of other murky dealings, the Cohen & Cohen loan, CHEC, the dump contract to name a few. It may well be that none of these involved any illegal activity or that nothing will be proved but in the court of public opinion “no smoke without fire” is just as firmly entrenched as “innocent unless proven guilty” and, as the country’s leader, avoiding criminal conviction alone is not enough to clear his name and restore confidence.
McKeeva has failed in his duty to remain above suspicion and that failure has brought the office of premier, his party and the entire country into disrepute. Of that, at least, we know he is guilty and in most other democratic countries that would be enough to disqualify him from office.
Declaring that he has clean hands is not enough. If he can’t prove to the public's satisfaction that they are clean then he has failed to hold himself to the required standard and he should resign or be removed before any more damage is done.
Rare chance for Mr Taylor
We should probably not be too surprised to see that the recent arrest of the premier has not resulted in a quick resolution either by way of formal charges being brought or the premier doing the honourable thing and stepping down fully from his position until things have been settled. There are those who say that we should continue to pretend that its business as usual until justice takes its course.
The problem is that there is a real possibility, based on previous investigations, that so-called justice will take either a very long time or not materialise at all.
From what we have seen so far, we can either give credit to the RCIP and assume that they are up to something a bit more advanced than we normal people can understand, or that their "case" was not as strong (as frankly it should have been) before arresting someone in high office.
At this stage, with the prospect of this situation limping on right through to election day, the best action to get to at least a political solution which may minimize further harm to the country's reputation is for the governor, Mr Duncan Taylor, to force early elections or for the UDP members of government to replace Mr Bush, as has been called for by political opponents.
Either action would provide us with at least one desirable result, which is to remove what many view as an incompetent leader from the country's top position. And very few would disagree that this one result alone would provide a nice feel good factor for the country.
We are seeing early evidence that the UDP elected members and the party executive will do in this situation what they tend to do best: nothing. But while we may havelow expectations for the UDP, we should and must put more scrutiny on the actions of Mr Taylor in how he handles this situation from a political perspective (because we should not kid ourselves by denying he plays a highly important political role).
The country cannot sit by while due process takes its course, especially when it is becoming clear that the course could be several miles long, while the running of government and country, which is already in a fiscal and economic crisis, suffers from this major distraction.
His Excellency must act now to restore order because it is highly unlikely that this will be achieved by the elected members of the Legislative Assembly, despite the opposition leader's 11th hour threat to bring yet another no confidence motion.
None of us may be quite ready for early elections but maybe that gives the country the best chance to lift itself out of this mess.
Traditionally, Cayman's governors tend to be more hands off on domestic matters, but this is one of those real opportunities to use his powers in the public interest. Will he?
Guilty until proven innocent
The arrest of Cayman’s premier by officers from the Financial Crimes Unit of the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, his detainment, questioning and subsequent release on bail without being charged has provided reasons for those who defend the ancient tenet of criminal law that a person is innocent until proven guilty to further suggest to that we should discontinue discussing this aspect of our politics.
In any case, this legal tenet seems to be a misnomer, and according to the US Supreme Court, the presumption of the innocence of a criminal defendant is best described as an assumption of innocence that is indulged in the absence of the contrary evidence. This is indulged within the court not equally within other instructions of society because the reality to most people is that no defendant would face arrest unless somebody – the crime victim, the prosecutor, a police officer – believes that the defendant was guilty of a crime.
After many months of investigations by the police into the conduct of the premier, the police are satisfied that there is sufficient evidence of wrongdoing for them to have arrested the premier in yet another step in the collation of the evidence required by a rational court as proof of his guilt. The goal of the police has been and is to gain more compelling evidence of the premier’s guilt, not his innocence.
We may reasonably assume that the longer the period of investigation the more probable are the chances of his being charged, and if charged, convicted of some offence. The fact that a person is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty should not impede the investigatory process in its search for evidence to prove guilt and it should not prevent those dissatisfied with the premier’s performance from continuing to compile additional grounds for his dismissal from office.
The tenet innocent until proven guilty was never intended to impede freedom of speech or political criticism and judgement of those empowered with the trust of the public. What is for certain is that a simple accusation by someone that another citizen has committed a crime begins a process of depriving the accused citizen of rights which he would not have been deprived of had he not been accused of having committed a breach of society’s rules.
If a citizen is accused by another citizen of having committed the crime or theft, rape, murder or any of these serious crimes, the police may use their power and judgement to deprive the accused of his freedom with the presumption that the person will be proven guilty by the courts. Therefore, we may like to believe that a person is innocent until proven quality but this principle of our jurisprudence does not protect an individual against arrest and imprisonment, nor from the moral and political outrage of the society.
Quickly and responsibly
The recent allegations relating to the Cayman Islands premier represents a major national crisis for the country's international reputation. Due process must be carried out, but this must occur quickly and not at the same speed as the previous investigations. The system of justice is just one of many institutions in the country and the way that it works must absolutely recognise the overall implications for the Cayman Islands economy and reputation when dealing with such high profile cases.
This country simply cannot afford a process that now drags on for another 6 to 12 months or, worse, years and all involved should work to apply the necessary resources to this case as it is very clearly in the country's interest to do so.
To ignore the wider implications of this case is to risk setting the country back several years as international investors and clients, including those from the global financial services industry, reconsider the Cayman Islands brand.
As bad luck would have it, the Cayman Islands are now perfectly placed to be perceived in the same light as Turks and Caicos, especially given the recent arrest of that jurisdiction's former premier, and we must act quickly now as a community to wrestle Cayman from this situation.
Political opponents: you will have your day to use this development against Mr Bush, but for the country's sake avoid adding fuel to the fire so that your country does not suffer the worst economic setback it has ever had in its history. Because make no mistake, everything is perfectly poised for that to happen if we do not act quickly and responsibly on this one.
It all boils down to trust
The next general election in the Cayman Islands will be the one that defines our future and will go down in history as maybe one of the most important. The voters will be tasked with deciding who will lead our country forward and out of the current economic slump we are facing. They will have to decide which party, alliance or independent they think is best suited for the job.
Before answering the crucial question of who is best suited for the job, we as voters must first understand the current financial and economic position the country is in and most likely will be in for some time.
The Cayman Islands as a country has found itself in the most peculiar stance that it has ever been in during its history.
From the economic standpoint, the three pillars that we have depended on for so many years are suffering tremendously due to the global recession. Tourism, construction and the financial industries are slower than they have been in the last 10 years. With the exception of a few proposed projects recently (good or bad, depending on how you see it), none of the pillars listed above seem to have much predicted growth in the near future.
From the government viewpoint, the country is in debt by over a half billion dollars and has no savings to help keep it afloat through this global recession. The government is now also troubled by the limited borrowing power it has due to the restrictions put on it by the mother country (UK). Unlike many other countries, we do not have the privilege of borrowing our way out of our woes until the recession has passed.
If you acknowledge and or agree with these viewpoints, the question is then, what can the government do to stimulate the economy if it has no access to any finances other than those that it needs to pay its day to day expenses (all the costs related to the general running of government)?
One must conclude that the only option we, as a country/government, have is to use our assets as leverage to entice investors to the country to create major development, which in large part will then stimulate the economy.
Therefore, the legislators selected to run this country come May 22 next year will be tasked primarily with the following three objectives:
1. They will/should be creating, amending, or deleting legislation to create a clean, honest and obstacle free environment for development, but at the same time be mindful to try not to compromise the moral and ethical codes of the Caymanian people.
2. They should construct ways to cut the cost of running government in a planned, managed and strategic way that will least effect the people of the country. For example, non-essential travel for ministers. (This topic warrants an article all of its own and will be addressed soon.)
3. They will also be tasked to negotiate the people's assets (duty exceptions, waving of fees, land transfers, et cetera) with investors to come to a balanced and transparent agreement for the people. The negotiators, ministers in cabinet and sometimes even junior ministers, will need to show value for money (from the "people's" point of view). They will also be expected, legally and morally, NOT to indulge in acts that may be deemed as corruption if presented to them, as it often is in such deals and negotiations of this magnitude.
In closing my synopsis of our country's current economic and financial position, I believe the key characteristic that the voters should and must pay most attention to is trust. In points 1 and 3, trust plays the biggest role.
Definition of trust: Assured resting of the mind on the integrity, veracity, justice, friendship, or other sound principle, of another person; confidence; reliance. Trust means being able to predict what other people will do and what situations will occur. If we can surround ourselves with people we trust, then we can create a safe present and an even better future.
In the selection of who you think will best represent you and the Cayman Islands, it will all boil down to trust.
These viewpoints are not a reflection of the Progressives (PPM) but solely my own.