Letter to the Editor

No supporter of the present party system which hurts Caymanians

Monday, July 19, 2004

Dear Sir,

I refer to the Cayman Net News of 12 July political photograph on page one. I am not a member of UDP or any political party. I do not support the present party system which was imposed on Cayman after the General Election. I believe the present party system will hurt the Cayman Islands.

The present Cabinet (formerly Executive Council) works similar to a board of directors of a company. It comprises the Governor as Chairman and the Chief Secretary, Financial Secretary and Attorney General, with full voting rights who are official members and civil servants and five ministers elected by the Legislative Assembly. These nine persons take joint decisions as a team.

The MLA’s represent the electorate and appoint the five Ministers from among the MLA’s. Only the MLA’s can remove a Minister, and this is in a public Legislative Assembly sitting.

The full internal self Government or full internal governance “Cabinet” removes the Governor as Chairman and appoints the Chief Minister as Chairman. 

It takes away the votes of at least two of the three official members/civil servants, and instead replaces them with a Chief Minister and elected ministers. Why stat the Official Members there if they are without a vote?
In practice, the Chief Minister is the leader chosen by the party in power (not by the people or MLAs), and he chooses the other ministers and is chairman of the Cabinet.

The Chief Minister is unquestionably all powerful, and can remove any or all Ministers for no reason and without the minister having a right in a public Legislative Assembly sitting to defend himself.

This absolute power exercised in private erodes transparency and democracy and may be in breach of natural justice.

In effect, the Premier or Chief Minister exclusively “Dominates,” and is normally against a referendum by the electorate on major issues such as constitutional change.

Can you imagine a Company Board of Directors in which the Chairman appoints eight directors and can remove them for no reason?

Why bother appointing the eight directors if the Chairman has absolute power to remove them, and thus in practice can dominate or override the collective and democratic decisions of the Board.

The people of the Cayman Islands by all island popular vote should have the right to vote their own Chief Minister, a right which the Constitutional Commissioners have acknowledged Caymanians wanted.

The Chief Minister can appoint his five Ministers. The Chief Secretary, Financial Secretary and Attorney General are now Caymanians who are experienced professionals.

They should be appointed by the Governor acting on the advice of the Public Service Commission consisting of Caymanians who should remain as civil servants independent of political interference in Cabinet and retain their right to vote.

If they are politically appointed, there is the distinct probability that the position will be filled by unqualified, inexperienced people, probably high school dropouts with no GCSEs or O levels (a typical career politician).

The three Caymanian official members bring vital continuity, stability and experience to the Cabinet that Caymanian residents and foreign investors need for confidence in Government.

Government is the only business in which the Chief Minister, Ministers and MLA’s do not need to have education qualifications, or relevant experience for. This is one of the weaknesses of the Westminster system.

At this stage the Legislative Assembly, (not the Chief Minister) should have the power to remove the Government in an open Legislative Assembly, with the Ministers having the right to defend themselves in a public hearing, as presently exists, in accordance with the rules of natural justice.

Once the Chief Minister has the right to remove his Ministers for no cause, he can normally control them and you can get a Chief Minister with near absolute power. This may lead to corruption and abuse of power.

Decisions of Cabinet should continue to be made by all the Cabinet Ministers, including the three Caymanian Officials, as a team with collective responsibility (in the same manner as a company board of directors) and not dominated by one man, the Chief Minister.

Look at the other Caribbean countries, big and small, which have moved quickly to advanced internal self-government and later independence, and who have Chief Ministers with near absolute powers. Most are in poverty. Compare these poor countries to the Cayman Islands.

Once Cayman has full internal self -government only one referendum is needed to go independent. That would be frightening.

Caymanians, do not be pushed into too much change too fast. Do not be bullied by the party system into one big change. One step at a time, after a referendum. See if it works and then the next step after a referendum.

If a political party or independent candidate is against a referendum to change the constitution, then they are depriving you of one of your most important democratic rights. Beware. One step at a time is the safe way to go.

Truman M. Bodden

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