MLA Kurt Tibbetts:Leadership in Difficult Times (Part Two)
In the previous issueof Cayman Net News, the former Leader of Government Business sharedhis earlier experiences, leading up to his elevation to the mostpowerful post on the Executive Council. In this conclusion ofhis exclusive interview, he outlines what took place leading upto his replacement and his political resolve for the future.
MLA KurtTibbetts
No government can function successfullywithout strong leadership and no tenacious leader will be greatwithout a formidable opposition helping to guide him honestlyand keep him on course. Right now, the people of the Cayman Islandsand around the world are waiting to see if the new governmentalignment will lead Cayman brightly into the future.
The former Leader of Government Business,Mr. Kurt Tibbetts, who was ousted from ExCo on 8th November, maynow ironically hold the key to Cayman's success. As the currentgovernment 'watchdog', he is uniquely positioned to ensure thatthe voice of the people will be heard.
"Most of what has come about is a resultof the climate and how I do what I do," he said in the firstpart of an exclusive interview he granted to Cayman Net News.As Mr. Tibbetts continues his search for a way to guide and leadthe islands, he ingests every situation as a valuable learningexperience.
"My concentration, at least for closeon the full two terms that I served as a representative were basicallyto see where best I could make a contribution. I have to admitthat there was no driving ambition on my part with regards topersonal aspirations," he says.
He is not ready as the George Town representativeto put his own political aspirations above the needs and goalsof the country and for this reason he has become both the championof his people and a political outsider.
He trusts that government growth and developmentare necessary but believes progress should be a quiet evolutionnot a noisy revolution. "While other countries do a lot ofthings and certain things are considered normal activities elsewherethe fact is the Caymanian population have not yet become usedto certain things and I do not believe that I or anyone else hasthe right to simply decide to dump these things on them withoutensuring that people are ready for them and able to cope withit," he says.
Farmer WillieEbanks (second from left) of North Side in discussion with Mr.Kurt Tibbetts during his tenure as Minister of Agriculture.
The four days of political reshuffling hasprompted many people to take a new look at the structure of thegovernment in the Cayman Islands. "The accountability processmust be one where if the public is voting for you, they must knownot only what you stand for but what your agenda will be,"he says. "And I think that while we've loosely operated likethat in the past, the time has come for there to be some organizedstructure."
Mr. Tibbetts considers himself a messengerfor the people and claims that the public support gave him theimpetus and confidence to continue with politics. He believeshe must be doing something right if so many people who electedhim last November continue to bolster and encourage him.
"If there are changes that from wherewe sit we believe should be made then we should show the publicwhy they should be made rather than simply make the changes andlet the chips fall where they may," he says. He is wary ofcritics who call his position deliberately docile and amends,"that is not because I want to retain a popular position.That is simply a respect for the fact that I am but a custodianfor the authority that the people have given me. And maybe thattoo is antiquated but I'm not so sure that I want to let thatgo."
One good thing that has come out of thecurrent political realignment, he argues, is the sudden and overwhelmingpublic interest in political proceedings. Recent events have promptedthe people of the Cayman Islands to take an active interest inthe business and construction of their government and Mr. Tibbettstrusts that this is a necessary step toward political maturity.
"I do recognize now that times arechanging," Mr. Tibbetts says but believes that the presentpolitical situation was handled irresponsibly. Yet, though manypeople have voiced their opposition, no dramatic or destabilizingevent has occurred in retaliation of the vote against him andMrs. Moyle.
Perhaps Kurt Tibbetts is partly responsible.As leader, he was criticized for being a peacemaker, a qualitythat some believe settles disputes but does not organize and leada nation. His ability to mitigate disruptions, however, ensureda calm transfer of government leadership. He even went so faras to urge the people of the Cayman Islands to not act irresponsiblyin his defense.
As a result, the country continues to functioncalmly and orderly. Democracy prevails in the Cayman Islands.
One significant change that has occurred, however, is the immediateand enormous public outcry. Many believe that public awarenessand lively discussions are just as important for a country tomature as the formation of a political party and strong, decisiveleadership.
Kurt Tibbetts has always professed a fundamentalbelief in what he calls "the politics of inclusion"and the new arrangement in government has forced many people totake a more active interest in the affairs of their country insteadof sitting back and idly hoping the right decisions will be made.
Mr. Tibbetts operates under the belief thatthe public should drive and inspire the politicians, not the otherway around. "But the truth of the matter is one has to bevery careful in the evolution of the political structure to ensureas best as is physically possible that it doesn't put the countryat risk," he says.
He believes that political ambitions andindividual aspirations are natural but urges, "we have tomature to the point to understand that all those who participatein the process have to, unlike what has been seen in many countriesin the past and what is the present situation, the individualambitions have to always be secondary because if they are theprimary focus than whatever system we have, it puts the countryat risk."
Kurt Tibbetts professes an understandingof the necessity for a country to evolve and mature politicallyand recognizes party politics as part of that development but,like everything else, he believes changes should be made carefullyand responsibly with the full knowledge and consent of the people.
"If we look at our Caribbean history,party politics while creating the discipline that we need the truth is there are some downsides." He believesthat though necessary to ensure a successful government, partypolitics carry with it certain disadvantages. He names divisivenessas chief among them.
He has been reluctant to call the UnitedDemocratic Party a true political party because he feels thatthe alliance was formed recklessly. "I haven't chosen touse that word yet simply because when we are to that point, we'llcall it that but we're not to that point yet," he says.
He and his colleagues MLA Mrs. Edna Moyleand MLA Mr. McLaughlin have considered taking their alliance toanother level and Mr. Tibbetts admits that a political party iscertainly a distinct possibility.
However, he also says that he will not participatein any party system that does not involve the public from theground level.
"Again, we want to be very carefuland to ensure that whatever structure emerges is sound and notfragmented and comes from the people," he warns.
Political divisiveness is not new to thecurrent government. Trust and unity began to dissolve almost immediatelyafter the November 2000 election because many of Mr. Tibbetts'peers in LA found fault with the way he purportedly excluded backbenchmembers from government meetings.
"The truth is I cannot blame the backbenchersif they felt that way. I can't argue against them feeling thatway," he says. However, Mr. Tibbetts also claims that effortswere made to hold inclusive meetings but scheduling conflictsroutinely arose making it impossible for all members to assembleon a regular basis.
He argues as he did on 8th November in theLA and assumes partial responsibility for the lack of communicationbetween backbench members and himself yet will not accept allof the blame. "I do not mind accepting responsibility forcertain things," he says "but the fact of the matteris that if you're going to say that I didn't hold these meetingswhen you were the ones that said you couldn't come, how can Iaccept responsibility for that?"
Critics also cited private conversationsbetween Mr. Tibbetts and His Excellency the Governor, Mr. PeterSmith in particular as reasons for the 'no confidence' vote. Mr.Tibbetts, however, laughs at the idea of him keeping anythingfrom his peers and asks, "What benefit was it to me?"
He says, "I'm not suggesting we didn'ttalk but there was nothing that we discussed that I hid from anyone.Nothing could be further from the truth. Most of the time whatwe talked about was what the council had discussed." He claimsthat briefings were not necessary and that everything the Governorrelayed to him in private had already been discussed with theother members of LA.
"People need to understand what 'Leaderof Government Business' means," Mr. Tibbetts says. He explainsthat it was a role created by former Governor, Mr. John Owen,which constitutionally means nothing though necessary to establishprotocol. He says the position only relates to chairing the businesscommittee that prepares the agenda for the Legislative Assembly.
He believes his peacemaking diplomacy wasincorrectly tagged as indecisiveness while he was leader. "Iwas not in a position to fulfill many of the expectations withthe best of design because the system didn't allow it," hesays. He does not regret the position he took as leader yet adds,"had the system been different and that was what I was supposedto do, I would have had enough sense to act it out."
Another complaint Mr. Tibbetts repeatedlyheard while in office and continues to hear is that he did nothingabout the size of the civil service. In fact, he claims he continuallyaddressed the issue but by constitutional duty, he did not havethat authority to act. The power rested instead with the Governorthrough his Chief Secretary.
Mr. Tibbetts relates an interaction betweenhimself and the Governor when the Civil Service College was formedas particularly telling. "He says to me he's going to dowhat I wouldn't do. I said 'please explain to me the constitutionalarrangements regarding the civil service.' And he said, 'I wasjust joking.' The fact is that I cannot count the number of occasionsthat the matter was brought up in Council," Mr. Tibbettslaments.
On Friday, 2nd November, when several membersof the Legislative Assembly met to announce their frustrationwith his leadership, Mr. Tibbetts felt ambushed. He believes thatsince then many accounts of what actually took place during thatmeeting are incorrect and wants to set the record straight. "Ididn't see ExCo able to function with a division," he saysand claims that as his reason for telling his peers that he wouldhave to consider his position. He says personal ambitions werenot involved and claims that he never said, as if often told,that he would only function in ExCo as Leader of Government Business.
"Alden (McLaughlin) had left the meeting,"he says, describing the situation. "They said to me theywant Council to remain the same. They want the ministers to staythe same but they want leadership to change. I had no idea thiswas happening. As the talks went on and I tried to digest it thebest way I could, in a matter of minutes I said to them 'whatis your contingency plan because you must have one.'"
Mr. Tibbetts maintains that the other membersin the meeting then said that there was no contingency plan, whichto him seemed unreasonable. He then said, "well you mustunderstand I may well find myself in an untenable circumstanceand I might not be able to continue the service on ExCo underthese circumstance."
He did not address the issue of leadershipbecause, as he explains it, that was not his point. "My pointwas simply when I looked at it, how could ExCo function afterthat with that division," he asks, describing the situationwith himself and Mrs. Moyle being two against three in ExCo. "Ididn't see myself being able to function in an Executive Councilwith the basic distress that would have been there. That's whatI was talking about," he says.
He also says that, contrary to rumor, henever lobbied to try to form another government over that weekend,2nd to 4th November. "That is not a fact," he asserts.He did speak to Mrs. Juliana O'Connor-Connelly and Mr. GilbertMcLean but he was not rallying members against the newly formedUDP.
In LA on 8th November, he chose not to stepdown and forced the vote to go through. "I did not feel andI still do not feel at this point in time that it had anythingto do with my actions so I did not resign," he says.
Personal experiences that he has had withinthe past year have made him realize that the present system istotally inadequate.
"The type of political representativesthat are coming now are not how they used to be so the structurewill have to change," he says.
He stresses that it is critically importantto put aside emotions and personal aspirations and hopes thatpoliticians will act more responsibly. "It is at this pointin time in the country's history that I believe we are most susceptible,"he says.
With tremendous public support, Mr. Tibbettsis determined to continue his political career. "In summary,"he says, "personally I have to chock this up to experience.People will have opinions on what I should have done, what I shouldn'thave done prior to this. But the fact is, it has happened andI have found myself where I am confident and there are many peopleout there who still wish for me to be one of their representatives.
"I still have the desire to do that.I believe that I can be effective and we will simply regroup andlook carefully at what will be the best way to move forward.
We certainly will be talking with the peopleto hear their views on the matter.
"Regardless of what personal feelingsare, I think it is important that we recognize that it is in allof our own best interests that the country is still allowed tofunction. We have to recognize that in differing, we can't disruptthe function. I believe that we still have a bright future butwe have to be very careful because there are some important decisionson the horizon.
"While I'm not suggesting that we don'tmake those decisions, I think we should be very careful that whenwe make the decision we make it from the most informed positionthat we can have.
"Needless to say that any personaldisappointments that I may have had have been well bound by thepublic support and I thank God that I found myself in that positionfrom the point of view that it certainly gave me the impetus notto give up but to go on."