‘No’ to no confidence vote

A majority of Cayman Islands lawmakers voted down a motion of no confidence
in the government in the early hours of Thursday morning following a marathon
session in the Legislative Assembly.

The motion, brought by the Leader of the Opposition Alden
McLaughlin, was defeated nine votes to five shortly before 2.30am Thursday, with
all members of the United Democratic Party government voting against the motion.

Four members of the opposition People’s Progressive Movement
and independent MLA Ezzard Miller voted to support the motion. Opposition MLA
Arden McLean was absent due to a family emergency.

Mr. McLaughlin’s motion outlined 23 areas of concern about
the government’s management of the country, a list which the leader of the
opposition said was “not exhaustive”.

In his speech to the House, he accused the government of
failing to address the “crime wave that is sweeping across this nation”. He also
read from two auditor general reports on political interference in the
government procurement process and on the failed Cohen and Company deal to try
to secure US$185 million in financing, citing them as examples of the
government’s mismanagement of the country’s affairs.

From the start, the leader of the opposition said he fully
expected his motion to fail – partly based on the fact that he could see there
was solidarity among the government elected members because all the male members
were wearing the signature UDP green striped tie – but insisted it was
worthwhile bringing the motion so that the government could address the issues
that were causing concern to the country.

He said the debate on the motion would give Premier McKeeva
Bush “a platform to explain much that is yet unexplained to the people of this
country”.

Mr. McLaughlin said the government had more power under the
new constitution to tackle crime because they could advise the governor, who has
overall responsibility for internal security and policing, in their capacity as
members of the National Security Council.

However, Mr. Bush and other members of his party lashed back
at that assertion, insisting that the council was merely an advisory body and
that council members could only deal with policy issues and not operational or
staffing issues relating to policing or other security matters.

Government members  who spoke during the marathon debates
urged the opposition not to politicise crime.

Several government speakers described the motion as a waste
of time because it had no chance of being passed. Mr. McLaughlin’s motion would
have required the votes of two-thirds of elected members, or 10 out of 15 votes,
to succeed.

All elected members of the House who were present spoke
during the debate, except for the former leader of the opposition Kurt Tibbetts
and the UDP’s Captain Eugene Ebanks and Cline Glidden.

For more on this story, read Friday’s Caymanian
Compass.