I would like to congratulate the election officials, their election team and logistic personnel for their management of the 2005 elections.
I doubt there is another country in the world that can compare their election management to the professionally executed election which our officials were able to achieve.
The voters must also feel proud of themselves for the respect and dignity they displayed in exercising their democratic rights at the polls.
They should be thanked and I hope eventually feted, for their support and commitment to democracy.
Without voter participation, no government has a mandate and will never be accountable to the people. May the Lord bless each voter and their family and I hope that over the next four years we can all achieve some measure of success.
Long may the voter continue to enjoy the freedom to choose and may they be relentless in their search for prosperity, peace, freedom and personal happiness. Long may our 15 legislators and their successors work tirelessly to protect our freedom and encourage us to be prosperous as we seek to improve our quality of life through service to our fellow humans with the help of God.
Political parties
The people of the Cayman Islands have yet again proverbially written a large sign on the wall.
The success of the PPM and their nine candidates, and the success of the four UDP candidates in West Bay, is a clear demonstration that Cayman people love political parties and this is their vote of preference.
To those who believe that there is a silent majority, I tell you now, there is none.
To those who may think Cayman people do not need or want political parties, I tell you statistics do not lie. I now remind you of the results our last seven general elections.
In 1976 the political party led by Jim Bodden, the Unity Team, won nine seats and had success with two close allies out of 12 seats.
This was repeated again in 1980 when they took seven seats out of 12.
Benson Ebanks and his loosely aligned and somewhat laid-back political party called the Dignity Team won seven out of 12 seats in 1984.
The Dignity Team leader forgot how much Cayman loved political parties in 1988 and was barely elected with a coalition of the greatest political misfits I ever saw in my life.
Even more
In 1992 Cayman voters demonstrated yet again their love affair with political parties when the National Team won 10 out of 15 seats.
In 1996 the National Team won eight out of 15 seats and had close support from two other elected candidates.
In 2000 the incumbent politicians yet again forgot the people’s love for political parties and proceeded to get elected in a poorly organized fashion.
They brought horse trading and political posturing to a new level when they finally put together a cabinet led by Kurt Tibbetts.
We know what happened in 2001, when the most astute politician, and yet fondly loved political figure of all time, McKeeva Bush, formed yet another political party, the UDP, to remove Kurt and Edna and take the leadership.
The real lesson to learn from this election is that Cayman voters are well educated, sophisticated and do like change, and yet again welcome the opportunity for a political party to manage the affairs of the country.
I am extremely happy about the results of the election.
Five rookies have to be good for any government. This is like new legs in a marathon, and these guys and Ms. Lucille Seymour are all smart, educated and experienced, yet young and energetic.
I am especially pleased with the people’s choice in Bodden Town.
To the new administration, I would like to remind you that we must stop perpetuating poverty and fostering a culture of criminality in the Cayman Islands.
We have young members in the assembly, educated enough to understand the devastating effects of having vested interests in failing policies.
The government must focus their resources on social and educational policies that are proactive, rather than trying to find solutions for ill-defined problems.
I hope they achieve some success with these urgent matters as well:
Our present school conditions and future plant capacity and location
The ever-increasing habits of encouraging crime and criminality, which sadly reflects the government circumventing the finance and stores regulations.
The growing need to house people in adequate, affordable and good-quality homes.
The poor traffic flow on island roads.
Let me also say that we need to limit work permits on this island. There are too many employers who need more employees, yet they do not want to pay decently, but if they get a temporary work permit they can circumvent the pension, medical and labour laws and enforce indentured servitude. Let’s not perpetuate poverty.
Right people
I sincerely hope that we can put the right people in the correct positions.
I also want to remind the PPM and their leaders that their educational campaign on the constitution must not be shelved, but they should seek to put in place a boundaries commission to implement single-member constituents as a first step to any constitutional amendment.
This seems relatively easy and our people seem ready for this long overdue aspect of our democratic process.
I have heard a lot of talk about term limits for politicians and civil-servant freedoms for the last 10 years. While I have no problems with term limits one way or the other, may I suggest that in future professional civil servants be given special leave to seek political office, without having to resign from their jobs.
They should be able to return to their civil-service post if they are not successful at the polls.
Mark Scotland is a prime example of one such person who has extraordinary talents that could be useful to the National Roads Authority and it would benefit our country greatly to have the benefits of his talents there.
I know that we will have four interesting years ahead and I want to congratulate all the candidates for carrying out an informative campaign.
Finally I hope that we can eliminate that foolish thought that once a candidate mentions the poor-management polices and ineptitude of another, we call that mudslinging. You cannot be an effective politician and get elected without exposing the truth. The alternative is far worse.
Dexter Harlan Rivers
Related Videos
