Editorial
The People must Choose a legislator- qualified to become Chief Minister
Baroness Scotland, the UK Minister responsiblefor the Overseas dependent territories, in her recent visit here- made it clear, that it is the people of the Cayman Islands whoare the gatekeepers of their country, and re-emphasised over andover again - that it is ultimately their decision and theirs alone,as to when or if they may want to move towards ConstitutionalAdvancement.
She said that the people of the Cayman Islands made a decisionback in 1992 to stay British and the U.K. Government was pleasedwith their decision. Accordingly, the U.K. government has, inturn made the decision to offer all citizens of the Overseas DependentTerritories British Citizenship all of the rights and privilegesthat go along with this status -- not withstanding the cry ofthe people for a Bill of Rights.
The Legislators of this country are the elected gatekeepers forthe people, and by this right, they are accountable to the people.They, along in co-operation with Private Sector leaders, are trustedto make decisions which have the potential to impact the futureof the entire country. The ultimate decisions should not be leftto the politicians alone.
Unfortunately, it is a practice of politicians to claim - withoutwarrant - that the people elect them to make decisions and therefore,they should not be hampered in doing so. This should not translateinto a policy by which politicians making decisions on nationalissues, should not consult with their constituents who electedthem. Elected officials should not simply assume that they havethe right to do so.
In so many instances, it is known that politicians do not go backto the people on a regular basis after they are elected. If everythree months they would have a meeting with the electors, thiswould mean that constituents will be assured of getting theirconcerns and issues across, 16 times for the duration of eachPolitician's reign. This should be separate from the few hoursthey put into their district offices.
Their 'open government policy' ticket on which so many candidatescampaign and are elected, should incorporate of publicly informingthe people, what issues are facing the country. Because the peopleare the ultimate decision-makers, the responsibility rests withthem, the politicians should recognise that they have been putthere as extensions of the people.
It is often said in many political forums, 'Representation ofthe people for the people.' It has been expressed publicly bymany - although - they are registered voters, they are not goingto vote because of their perception that they have received inadequaterepresentation in the past. Where they have not been kept adequatelyinformed as to what is going on in the country and that they arenot consulted as to what they want, that in fact their input andopinions have not been sought, or otherwise totally disregardedin some instances.
The Baroness could not be clearer when she says it is the people'schoice as to where they want to go. In which case, the peoplenow have to insure that who they chose to represent them has aclear understanding that they will put into practice a policyof openness, education and full and frank discussion with thepublic before they make decisions which are effecting them. Theymust introduce and encourage a program of civic studies into theeducation system.
If the present mood of the country is representation of what successivepoliticians have done to date is any indication of what we canexpect for the future - it is not good enough. The trend has beenfor them to really do their own thing without consulting the peoplewho put them there.
Therefore, it must be stressed and reiterated that the decisionhas to be made that the seat of Chief Minister must be filledand with all of the authority and autonomy to act in that capacity.
The people are not looking for a repeat of the same situationwhich occurred following the 1992 Elections when the decisioncould not be made as to who would be chief? This was because ofthe infighting and indecisiveness among the politicians at thattime. The net result of this indecision has resulted in what canonly be described as backward Administration. And there again,that position was even later split between different members inthe Government administration.
Clearly, pathetically the general perception of the voters todayis that there is no clear indication as to who can ... or is preparedto assume the challenging position as Chief Minister - leaderfor this country.