Editorial
In Supportof Single Constituencies
There comes a time when every creature andentity which purport to uphold every semblance of good order forthe Cayman Islands, must step up to the plate and take their placeto voice what they may be harbouring in their hearts.
For far too long, this country has beendenied the right to grow up politically. It is worthy of repeating,again: We have been trying to stay on the road of success witha Cadillac economy, powered by a constitution with a Chevette'sengine.
With the proposed advancement of our presentarchaic constitution, opportunity has arisen whereby we can tryand catch up where we have failed in terms of having the typeof Government machinery in place to deal with the enormous amountof issues, which continue to plague the task of governing.
In addition to this, there is growing discontentamong the population that a change must come about in the mannerin which we have been electing officials, who, without seekingthe blessing of the electors who put them in the House, form alliancesafter the election which are anathema to voters' preference.
For instance: The most hotly debated issuebeing contested for the new constitution, is that of the recommendationby the majority of the people who contributed to findings of theCommissioners, is that of the adoption of single seat constituencies,the introduction of the widely accepted democratic practice of'one man, one vote.'
We offer that this process for the electionof representatives to the Legislature is far better than the onein existence. An election fought through this process could notget any fairer. It would mean that a particular district whichnow allows for the election of four representatives, will havefour distinct legislators who will bring a sense of familiarityof the concerns of his or her particular constituency, insteadof relying on any group to represent them.
One man, one vote also reduces the probabilitythat a block of successful candidates in a particular districtcould propagate the continuation of coalition governance, whichdoes not give a clear mandate to the majority of legislators who,although being successful at the polls, are forced to compromisetheir constituents' confidence by forming alliances which do notmeet with their approval.
Perhaps the lack of across-the-board representationis what has caused so many hiccups for the orderly administrativeand political growth of the Cayman Islands. What is certain however,is that there must be a maturing of the way in which we conductour civic affairs if we are to be and maintain our position asa world-class economic player.
There is absolutely no way we can continueto have band-aid fixes for matters, especially those of constitutionalvalue, which affect the lives and future of all who call the CaymanIslands home. Enshrined in this, is the will of the people toexercise their majority preference through the provision and preservationof a Human Rights charter, and when necessary, referenda to settleissues which create rhetorical arguments instead of solutions.
While the Cayman Islands may have grownup to attract the multitude of financial and tourism businessit enjoys, too little attention has been paid to safeguardingwhat so many, including a significant amount of expatriates whohave worked so hard to develop our country as it is today.
No longer the Islands that time forgot,we are now being watched and assessed, not only by other offshorecompanies management jurisdictions, but also by our neighboursin the Caribbean region who have actually begun to make incursionsto attract personnel from here. Make no bones of it, if theseprofessionals leave, they will certainly take the business withthem.
We endorse the preference of many, thatof the establishment of single member constituencies. If any shoulddisagree, which they have the right to, then such should be putto a vote by a referendum or a new election to settle the politicaland societal direction of this beloved country.