Premier Wayne Panton has had a long-running battle to keep his PACT government, made up of members who ran as independents, intact.
April 2021
Wayne Panton has had a hard-fought battle to form and keep his PACT government together, starting in the hours immediately after the 14 April 2021 election. Following a long night of negotiations with independents who had won seats, Panton announced he had the support of 10 members, enough to form a government.
However, fighting back, the Progressives, late on the night of 15 April, released a letter to the media showing 10 signatures of members who were willing to form a government – including Sabrina Turner and Isaac Rankine, who had initially been part of the PACT group.
Then, the following day, at a public meeting in her district, Turner declared she was staying with PACT, after all. Rankine also returned to the PACT folds, and Juliana O’Connor-Connolly defected from the Progressives, further bolstering Panton’s majority in the House.
In a strategic but risky move, PACT also welcomed into its ranks McKeeva Bush, who returned as Speaker of the House in the new government. That decision was controversial, as the Progressives had called an early election after the previous Opposition declared it planned to bring a vote of no confidence against Speaker Bush, following his conviction for common assault on a female bar manager.
PACT was sworn in as the Cayman Islands’ new government on 21 April, with a solid majority of 12 members to the Opposition’s seven.
November 2021
Panton’s government got a boost in its numbers on 30 Nov. 2021, when Bodden Town East MP Dwayne Seymour crossed the aisle and joined PACT, bringing its numbers up to 13.
April 2022
Panton stripped West Bay North MP Bernie Bush of his role as minster for home affairs, and was placed on two weeks’ leave without pay, after it was determined that comments he had made about the Fire Service Department violated the Constitution and Ministerial Code of Conduct. Bush remained as a Cabinet member however, retaining his post as minster of sports, youth, heritage and culture. Health Minister Turner took over as home affairs minister.
October 2022
McKeeva Bush’s continuing presence in the Speaker’s chair brought strife to the House, with the Opposition boycotting a parliamentary session on 7 Oct. after its members were denied a request to bring a vote of no confidence in him. Bush had announced that he would step down as Speaker, but not until 30 Nov. Unusually, the House, in the absence of the six Progressives members, instead debated a ‘motion of confidence’ in the government, which was tabled by Seymour. A few days later, on 12 Oct., Bush, in an address to Parliament, announced that he would step down, effective immediately. West Bay Central MP Katherine Ebanks-Wilks was chosen to replace him.
March 2023
Deputy Premier and Finance Minister Chris Saunders left the PACT government on 21 March 2023. While Saunders said he resigned, Panton said he’d been asked to leave. Saunders cited differences with the premier as the reasons behind his departure. A Cabinet reshuffle placed Education Minister O’Connor-Connolly in the position of deputy premier, and Panton took over Saunders’ Finance Ministry role. This reduced the PACT majority to 12. Seymour was elevated to Cabinet, responsible for the Ministry of Border Control and Labour.
September 2023
The stability of the government suffered a further blow on 22 Sept., when Seymour tendered his resignation in a speech in Parliament on 22 Sept., citing “disorganisation” and “lacklustre leadership” within the PACT administration. Seymour’s departure left PACT with 11 members, comprising 10 voting members and Speaker of the House Ebanks-Wilks, who can only vote when Parliament is deadlocked.
November 2023
McKeeva Bush resigned from the PACT government, leaving the House deadlocked at 9-9, with Speaker Ebanks-Wilks, who is a member of the PACT administration, holding the deciding vote. Bush’s resignation prompted the Progressives-led Opposition to bring a vote of no confidence in the Panton government.
On 14 Nov., the vote went 8-7 in favour of the motion, with two government ministers – André Ebanks and Juliana O’Connor-Connolly – and the Opposition’s Chris Saunders opting to abstain.
The fallout would prove to be the final nail in the coffin for the PACT administration.
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