Street-smart kids and candidates to face-off

Kyle McLean, President,
Commonwealth Youth Club

Thursday,  April 28, 2005

Question and answer forums have clearly been one of the rites of passage for candidates in the upcoming 11 May General Elections, and now it is the turn of the Cayman Islands’ youngsters to grill those campaigning for a seat in the Legislative Assembly.

A young-people’s group, with a membership that includes at-risk youth, has called on candidates to meet with them and answer their questions face to face.

Described as a “face-off”, the event is being hosted by the Commonwealth Youth Club. “The Commonwealth Youth Club is set up by way of the Commonwealth Youth Programme which is headquartered in Guyana,” said Club President, Kyle McLean.

The club promotes commonwealth values and fosters peer to peer relationships with at-risk youth.

“We encourage all young people to join the club and within our organization we have persons that can be paired with at-risk youth in order to have a positive influence on them.

“The club is closely linked with the Department of Youth and Sports and is approximately three years old,” Mr McLean explained.

Asked what type of questions may be asked in the one-hour panel sittings Mr McLean said, “I am not sure, but I assume the questions will surround topical issues such as gang violence, education and employment.”

The forum is the first of its kind to be hosted by the club and is being staged in conjunction with the National Youth Commission on 30 April at the First Baptist School’s gymnasium, across from the Lion’s Centre.

Young people, especially those aged 16 to 30 years are encouraged to attend and participate in the forum that will be broadcast live on Style 96.5.

Candidates will be presented three rounds of questions randomly chosen from submissions from youth. Candidates will have three minutes to answer each question. Up to a total of 20 questions will be accepted from the audience and may be directed to any candidate through the moderator.

The interactive sessions will begin at 12 noon with West Bay Independent Candidate Bernie Bush, Hon Leader of Government Business and leader of the United Democratic Party, (UDP) McKeeva Bush, Mario Ebanks, from the West Bay Alliance and John Jefferson Jr. another independent candidate standing in West Bay.

The 1:00 pm session includes George Town candidates Linford Pierson, leader of the newly formed People’s Democratic Alliance, Ellio Solomon and Independent Candidate, Dr. the Hon Frank McField of the UDP and Kurt Tibbetts Leader of the People’s Progressive Movement, (PPM).

At 2:00 pm over in Bodden Town the contenders include – Roy Bodden of the UDP, Independent Candidates Sandra Catron and Mary J Lawrence as well as the PPM’s Anthony Eden, all of whom will meet with the young people.

Half-hour sessions each, starting at 3:00 pm will follow for the North Side candidates Edna Moyle of the PPM and the Independent, Bo Miller and the UDP’s Alex Johnson, as well as over in East End the McLean candidates, Arden with the PPM and John running as an Independent, will face the questions.

The Commonwealth Youth Club has 36 members and with “good governance” named as one of the values to be imparted to youth, the forum is an ideal platform for the organization to create and should prove interesting exercise in both encouraging more youth interest in politics, but to also give the politicians a true insight into how many young people are watching them and what it is that they are looking for in a potential candidate.

Back...