ACCESS: Political Youth Awareness
What is the Legislative Assembly, how does it work and what does it do?
Monday, May 24, 2004
What are we voting for? When you vote in a general election you are voting
for a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA).
This is the person who, if elected, will represent your community and be
your voice in the Legislative Assembly (LA).
The LA is where bills proposed by the Cabinet/ExCo are passed or rejected
before they can go on to become laws.
The LA consists of 15 elected members from various electoral districts or
constituencies. For election purposes the Cayman Islands are broken down into
six multi-member constituencies.
‘Multi-member’ means that the number of elected members voters may vote for
differs depending on the constituencies they live in.
If you live in one of the larger districts of West Bay or George Town you
will have four votes and can elect four members.
If you live in Bodden Town you may vote for three elected members, in
Cayman Brac and Little Cayman combined there are two, while if you live in
East End or North Side you will have one elected member.
The candidate, or candidates where appropriate, in each constituency who
receives the most votes will be the MLA for that district.
The way in which Ministers of the Cabinet are chosen does not directly
involve the public. They are chosen by an internal election among the current
elected members.
Therefore Government Ministers are the MLAs who are ultimately elected by
the people, except for three of them who are appointed by the Governor.
Your MLA may or may not become a Minister. In the instance where they do
become a Minister they continue to be your MLA.
A Government Minister may be removed from his post by tendering his
resignation, failing to comply with constitutional duties or by a majority
vote of no confidence in the LA.
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