Premier Wayne Panton, nearly one week after the exit of his former deputy, took to government radio on Monday to address the situation, saying MP Chris Saunders was offered a chance to resign before having his appointment revoked.
Panton, who has yet to address media questions on the situation that were sent last week, broke his silence on the ‘For the Record’ talkshow on government station Radio Cayman.
He said he wanted to “clarify” what he termed “misinformation” on what transpired last week when Saunders parted ways with the PACT administration.
Issues of conduct
Panton said when he met with Saunders last Tuesday, he offered the Bodden Town West MP an opportunity to resign after raising concerns about issues surrounding “conduct”.
“I outlined to Mr. Saunders the number of issues that I had real concerns with, and I offered him the opportunity to resign. He did not accept the opportunity to resign at that time,” Panton said, adding that he then asked Governor Martyn Roper to revoke Saunders’s appointment.
Saunders, however, through a WhatsApp broadcast message, said he resigned from his post and the government, citing differences with the premier.
He also told the Cayman Compass in a subsequent interview that their different “ideologies” made it difficult to continue working with Panton.
The premier, in his short statement last week, had only indicated that Saunders would “no longer serve in Cabinet”. He had not, at that time, mentioned any issues surrounding the MP’s conduct as reason for his exit from the front bench.
Panton, speaking on Radio Cayman, took issue with Saunders’ statement that there were differences between the two, saying they had a “fairly good working relationship”.
“There weren’t any material differences between us. The issue simply was, unfortunately, that there were issues of conduct with Mr. Saunders and I ended up having to make a very, very difficult decision. It was a very sad decision to have to make,” Panton said.
Saunders, speaking with the Compass following Panton’s interview, questioned what happened for the premier’s “tune” to change from last week’s address to his Monday interview.
“Clearly, the premier is singing from a different hymn sheet. I don’t know who spoke to him since the email got leaked between myself and the governor,” Saunders said.
Letter outlines concerns around conduct
The premier said he received an official letter from Deputy Governor Franz Manderson, the head of the civil service, “outlining a number of conduct-related issues that had nothing to do with anything like that [the row with Roper]”.
He added, “I felt that I had to take action. I have to make really difficult decisions at times, decisions that are laced with sadness, the decisions that I know have impacts on various relationships and even obviously, families and people involved.”
Panton claimed he was compelled to act and had a responsibility to ensure safe environments in which people live and work.
“That they can do so without being bothered, without being harassed, without being berated, without being unfairly or unjustly treated,” the premier said.
The Compass reached out last week to Manderson on the allegations against the Bodden Town West MP.
In a brief emailed response Tuesday, the Deputy Governor, said, “complaints brought to my attention concerning the behavior of former Minister Saunders towards certain civil servants were raised with me, which I subsequently shared with the Premier, who has authority to take action in matters pertaining to the Ministers of Cabinet”.
Manderson declined to comment further on the specifics of “any allegations made in this current matter,” however he hastened to say “it is also my duty to ensure that the civil service remains apolitical. I will ensure that the civil service continues to serve the elected government and their priorities to make the lives of those we serve better”.
He did not confirm if any investigations were initiated or completed into the complaints he received.
Saunders has refuted claims of bullying and misconduct, saying it was the “first time” he had heard anything like that, and asked to be informed of the accusations so he could have his lawyers write to the complainants directly.
Saunders said he sought to hold people accountable in doing their jobs.
“As labour minister, immigration minister and finance minister, you don’t do those jobs without being firm with people and if people have a problem being held accountable for doing their job, then that is that,” he said.
Saunders fires back
The Bodden Town West MP, shortly after the premier’s interview, issued a broadcast message pointing to the “material differences” between Panton and himself, the first of which was the Integrated Solid Waste Management System project.
“If you want the truth to what is really going on, I implore you to ask the Hon. Premier, Wayne Panton, to release the report from the Office of the Auditor General on the ReGen project,” he said, adding that the last set of numbers he saw makes the project “unaffordable” for the public purse.
“There is absolutely no way I would have signed off on that project when I was Minister of Finance,” he said, adding that the last figure pegged the project at $2 billion.
Panton, who is now finance minister, said in his radio interview that the ReGen deal is close to being signed.
The Compass had asked for a copy of the report last year; however, Auditor General Sue Winspear denied the request as the negotiations were ongoing.
Last week, the Compass requested once again to see the report, but Winspear said the report still has not been published and “will not be until after the government signs the final contract, due to the commercial sensitivities”.
“As the report will be so dated when it is eventually published, we intend to also complete and publish alongside it a short follow up report comparing what we recommended back then with what is in the final contract,” she added.
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