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As debate continues on acceptanceof a new Constitution, the Opposition Legislators in the Assemblyhave formed the ...
PPM To Challenge UDP
It is now official: Another PoliticalParty has arrived in the Cayman Islands and the opposing factionin the House is preparing to test the will of the Members of theLegislative Assembly, setting the stage for the next electionand future legislative matters with a motion to hold a referendumin connection with a new mandate which will be put before theHouse to modernize the present Constitution.
MLA KurtTibbetts Leader of the Opposition, addressing supporters of thePeople's Progressive Movement.
Following a series of meetings throughoutthe various electoral districts, the Leader of the Oppositionin the Legislative Assembly, MLA Kurt Tibbetts along with hisHouse colleagues, MLAs Alden McLaughlin, Edna Moyle and ArdenMcLean launched their political party: the People's ProgressiveMovement (PPM) on the steps of the Legislative Assembly shortlyafter noon on Tuesday, 28 May, with some 100 to 120 supportersin attendance. MLA Anthony Eden, another Opposition Member wasoff the island.
Following the distribution of a press releaseand copies of the Private Members Motion which will be put beforethe House by Mr. Tibbetts, seconded by Mrs. Moyle, the formerLeader of Government Business addressed the press and supportersof his Movement.
BusinessmanBilly Adam (left) and others were quite vocal in their supportfor the new People's Progressive Movement.
The Private Members Motion proposed posesa Resolution for a referendum arising from issues in connectionwith the Constitutional Commissioners Report and Draft Constitution,which was presented to the former Governor, Mr. Peter Smith inApril.
In their Motion, the Opposition raises thefollowing matters:
i. Should the Cayman Islands adopt the proposalcontained in the Report with respect to the concept of "oneman, one vote" and the creation of seventeen single memberconstituencies?
ii. Should the Speaker of the LegislativeAssembly be chosen from outside the elected membership of theLegislative Assembly?
iii. Should the proposed changes to theCayman Islands Constitution be implemented between the dissolutionof the current Legislative Assembly and the next general electionin 2004, as is proposed in the Report, or should the proposedchanges be made as soon as possible?
iv. Should the Cayman Islands Constitutioncontain provisions to permit the electorate to initiate a referendum?
v. Should term limits be placed on the holderof the office of Chief Minister?
vi. Should a person who holds a nationalityin addition to British Overseas Territories Citizenship, by virtueof a connection to the Cayman Islands, and British Citizenshipbe permitted to be elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly?
The following is the full text of the pressrelease issued by the People's Progressive Movement:
"This morning, the five members ofthe Parliamentary Opposition, namely Mr. Kurt Tibbetts, Mrs. EdnaMoyle, Mr. Anthony Eden, Mr. Arden McLean, and Mr. Alden McLaughlin,filed a motion in the Legislative Assembly which seeks to havea referendum held to determine six controversial questions whichhave emerged from the Constitutional Commissioners' Report.
The Motion also seeks to have debate onthe Constitutional Commissioners' Report by the Legislative Assemblydeferred pending the holding of and the publication of the resultsof the referendum. The full text of the Motion, which is movedby Mr. Tibbetts and seconded by Mrs. Moyle, is attached hereto.
In relation to the question of timing, Mr.Tibbetts noted that there is no real urgency in having the Parliamentarydebate proceed as planned on 19th June. He pointed out that inMarch of this year the Governor's office issued a press statementin which it was made plain that the U.K. Government had set nodeadline for the conclusion of the Constitutional Review processand public debate on the Constitutional Commissioners' Report.
He also said that the Legislative Assemblyis entirely in control of its own proceedings and that a majorityof members of the Legislative Assembly could agree not to proceedwith the debate on the Constitutional Commissioners' Report onthe 19th June. He pointed out that as the United Democratic PartyGovernment holds the majority of seats in the Legislative Assembly,the decision as to whether or not to defer the debate rests withthem.
Mr. Tibbetts said that the Motion is broughtin direct response to numerous representations, which have consistentlybeen made to the Opposition Members during the course of the pasttwo and a half months.
He said that over that period the Oppositionmembers had held seven public meetings in all the electoral districtsand had also met privately with a number of groups of concernedcitizens.
Additionally, the Opposition Members arein the process of canvassing the views of the public by goingdoor to door in the districts. While this process has not yetbeen completed, the majority of persons spoken to are in favourof a referendum being held.
Mr. Tibbetts also said that the Oppositionmembers had also had the benefit of legal opinion both from withinthe Cayman Islands and abroad and that the group had also consideredthe stance taken by the Caymanian Bar Association last week.
Said Mr. Tibbetts: "We are persuadednow that the ramifications of this matter are too grave for usas elected members to ignore the representations of the many interestgroups and individuals who have spoken to us. It is the fundamentalright of individuals to indicate their wishes to Parliamentarianson any particular issue. We are satisfied that a sufficient numberof people in this country are desirous of the public having agreater say in shaping the final version of the new constitutionand accordingly, after consultation with the National Councilof our proposed movement and other interested and supportive persons,this morning we filed a motion in the Legislative Assembly, callingfor a referendum to determine the views and wishes of the publicon key issues raised in the Constitutional Commissioners' Report.
"A referendum is a process by whicha question or series of questions on matters of policy is putdirectly to the people in a vote. Since none of us is completelysure about the views of the people, we want to be certain thatwhat we are supporting is in accordance with the wishes of thepeople we serve. This is best determined by having a referendumon the key issues that flow from this exercise and before a newCayman Islands Constitution is promulgated.
"David Thompson, the Leader of theOpposition in Barbados, who recently gave an erudite and thoughtprovoking lecture in Cayman on the issue of constitutional change,wrote the following:
'There is a constant danger that we areunderestimating the ability of the electorate to debate and determineissues of importance to all our lives. The sound-bite argumentsencouraged by the media, the instinct of politicians for not givinga straight answer to questions, the failure to debate an issuethrough, are all symptomatic of the tendency of government tounderestimate the intelligence of the people.
' Parliament clearly has a large role toplay in government. But there are issues which cross party lines,or which divide society as a whole, or which are fundamental toour future, where the voice of the people should be directly expressed.A general election campaign is no substitute.
'People are educated enough, mature enough,and enough affected by the decisions of government, to be granteda larger part in our democracy. The referendum should no longerbe the exception to get a political party out of trouble. It shouldbecome an accepted way of taking the views of the people on issueswhich will shape their lives and those of their children.'
"We agree with Mr. Thompson that thegolden thread which underlies each of these individual issuesis the need to educate, consult, involve and respect the wishesof the people. The touchstone of any sound constitution and goodgovernance is whether it truly serves and protects the peopleand our aim should be to stimulate thought about how our constitutionneeds to develop to meet the challenges of the next century."
Mr. Tibbetts went on to say:
"Earlier I referred to us having consultedwith the National Council of our proposed Movement. I should explainthat statement. Over the course of the past four months we havemet on a regular basis with a group of over a hundred personsfrom the broadest possible cross section of this community. Asa result of those meetings we have been persuaded that there isa real need for another political organization to fill the voidthat still exists in the political landscape of the country. Aftermonths of meeting we have now formulated the broad outline ofwhat we intend to become a meaningful alternative to the currentGovernment.
"This movement has been born out ofthe need to fill the void created as a result of voter apathyand cynicism, engendered by the arrogant and take-it-or-leave-itattitude of the government of the day. Persons who have livedin this country all their lives are now saying they feel alienatedfrom the process. They feel as if they no longer have a say indetermining how Cayman should be governed.
"A wide cross section of the societyhas said to us 'we must stop this current groupwe cannot allowthem to destroy all that we have worked so painstakingly to acquireand establish'. People in this country complain to us that theydo not like the approach of the current administration to thetask of governancethey say to us the politicians in governmentspeak as masters and not as servants of the people.
"Their handling of the current ConstitutionDebate is typical of the arrogance and intolerance of opposingviews that residents despise. Had it not been for the interventionof the Parliamentary Opposition, the report of the Commissionerswould by now have reached London and would be on its way backto the Cayman Islands, without input from the people of this country.Even in bowing to pressure to effect the last postponement, theLeader of Government Business made clear that he did not believethat the consultative process was necessary. He described effortsto involve members of the public in the consultative process asdelaying tactics by the opposition.
"This movement has been started indirect response to the drift towards political irresponsibility,economic opportunism and social unrest in the Cayman Islands inthe past six months. It recognizes that the country has takena dangerous path that could lead to unsustainable economic andsocial development that could erode all the gains made duringthe past thirty years.
"Given our philosophical commitmentto a People centred organisation, where the active membershipwill have a major say in influencing and determining policy; andgiven the Progressive nature of our policies and the programmeswe hope to initiate on election to office and given the dynamicnature of our organisation and the fact that it will be structuredin a manner as to permit for flexibility in adjusting to the realitiesof a changing economic and political environment; we believe thatthe term 'Movement' better connotes what we are seeking to conveyand achieve.
"Accordingly, last night (Monday, 27May) the National Council, the highest decision making entityof the organisation, ratified the "People's Progressive Movement"as the name of the newest political organisation in this country.
"We will keep the media apprised ofimportant developments and look forward with excitement to theannouncement of the launch of the Movement in the near future.This is an important and dynamic step in the political historyof the Cayman Islands and one which we believe augers well forthe future of this country and the preservation of its parliamentarydemocracy."