In a move that could set the stage for a political showdown, Bodden Town East MP Dwayne Seymour has filed a private member’s motion seeking to endorse the PACT administration and counter the no-confidence motion already filed by the Opposition.
Seymour filed the motion in Parliament on Thursday afternoon, 29 Sept.
The one-line motion, which was seconded by East End MP Isaac Rankine and Savannah MP Heather Bodden, simply states “be it resolved that Parliament does declare full confidence in the government”.
Confidence vs no confidence
The motion follows the no-confidence motion filed by Opposition Leader Roy McTaggart which moved a vote against the government and removal of Premier Wayne Panton in a bid to form a “coalition of the capable” to run the jurisdiction for the remainder of the current term.
McTaggart, who filed the motion on 21 Sept., had appealed to all Members of Parliament to support the proposal, saying “the country simply deserves better”.
Last week, when the start date of Parliament, which was initially carded for 5 Oct., was pushed back two days without explanation, Seymour filed the new motion to bolster support for the government and neutralise the Opposition’s motion.
When contacted Monday by the Cayman Compass for comment on the move, Seymour declined to explain his decision and instead issued a short message.
“Thanks for showing interest in my political actions, but I do beg your patience and ask for your attendance at Parliament on Friday to hear my explanation which I will only do once and won’t discuss a parliamentary motion outside parliament first, remember I’m only a (parliamentary secretary),” he told the Compass in the message.
The Opposition has also filed a motion of no confidence in House Speaker McKeeva Bush in a bid to oust him from the chair after he missed the deadline issued by Panton to step down.
That motion, which is also expected to be debated in the House on Friday, follows a police investigation into the West Bay West MP regarding an alleged “incident/incidents of assault” at a government-sponsored cocktail reception.
The Compass has written to police seeking an update on the investigation, but has not received a response.
As for the Opposition motion, McTaggart, on Monday afternoon, told the Compass that the ‘lack of confidence motion’ against the House Speaker should be debated first when Parliament resumes.
However, that could change if Bush hands in his resignation.
And for the no-confidence motion in the government, McTaggart said it should not be affected by the Seymour motion as “we filed first”.
“We will see what they attempt to do with the confidence in government motion but we expect that that our lack of confidence motion will be heard and debated before their motion. We do not in fact believe that their motion is needed,” he said.
He said the Bush no-confidence motion should be debated before the one on lack of confidence in the government.
“[Government] can bring anything they want after that,” he said in a short comment to the Compass.
The Opposition requires a two-thirds majority for their no-confidence motion to carry.
PACT MPs offer identical responses
The Compass attempted to poll the sitting government MPs Monday afternoon to get their take on the Seymour motion and where they stand.
Given that Rankine and Bodden both seconded the motion, it is safe to count them as supporting the proposal, though by press time they had not responded to the Compass queries.
North Side MP Jay Ebanks, Prospect MP Sabrina Turner and Deputy Premier Chris Saunders all replied to the Compass query with exactly the same message as Seymour.
“Thanks for showing interest in MP Seymour’s political actions, but I do beg your patience and ask for your attendance at Parliament on Friday to hear MP Seymour’s explanation which he will only do once and won’t discuss a parliamentary motion outside parliament first, remember MP Seymour is only a (parliamentary secretary),” the multiple messages stated.
WhatsApp messages to the remaining government MPs were either read, but not responded to, or not read at all.
No further comments were received by the time of publication.
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