East End MP Isaac Rankine was sworn in as the new minister for border control and labour on Tuesday afternoon, bringing an end to four days of speculation about the stability of the PACT government following Dwayne Seymour’s fiery resignation speech in Parliament.
Rankine stepped down as deputy speaker to take the ministerial post.
“Today, Member of Parliament for East End, Mr. Isaac Rankine, has been appointed by His Excellency the Acting Governor Mr. Franz Manderson as Minister for Border Control and Labour. The rest of the Cabinet and Caucus remain determined to work together for the greater good of our people and the country,” Premier Wayne Panton said in a statement announcing the appointment.
Speakers and deputy speakers of parliament cannot also be Cabinet ministers, under parliamentary standing orders, necessitating Rankine to resign as deputy speaker before he could take up the Cabinet position. Heather Bodden was voted in as his replacement Tuesday.
Rankine, who had been rumoured in the intervening days between Seymour’s resignation and the East End MP’s appointment as the frontrunner for the post, said he was “honoured and grateful” to take on the role.
This is his first ministerial position in government.
‘Pressing forward’
The government’s announcement of Rankine’s appointment is the first public response the PACT administration has made in relation to Seymour’s dramatic resignation late on Friday afternoon.
Rankine, in a statement included in the announcement, said, “I thank the Premier and my colleagues for this expression of their confidence in me. Indeed, I look forward to taking on this challenge and serving the people of the Cayman Islands to the best of my ability.”
Panton, in that same statement, said, with Rankine’s appointment, the PACT government would “press forward as we always have. Because the people of this nation need relief and solutions.”
He added, “Let me remind you that this is a government that truly cares for Caymanians. We will continue to offer solutions to the families and people of this country. That will not change.”
Earlier on Tuesday, government members nominated and elected Heather Bodden as Rankine’s replacement as deputy speaker, who will take on the speaker’s role in the absence of the speaker, Katherine Ebanks-Wilks.
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