Ebanks unveils roadmap at rally – and signals group’s new name

Soon-to-be premier André Ebanks said his first priority is to get “a handle on the country’s finances” so his new government can prepare for its first budget.

He added the mix of his The Caymanian Community Party (TCCP), the Cayman Islands National Party (CINP) and a clutch of independents had taken “significant steps” in forming a government in a short time.

And he insisted the ruling group – to be known as the National Coalition for Caymanians (NCFC) – would stay the course.

Ebanks, speaking at a rally for the four West Bay constituencies at West Bay Heritage Park on Saturday night, said, “I believe it will.”

He added, “And as we indicated tonight, and as we have said in various press releases, what’s going to be made is a coalition agreement, which is with the help of the civil service, looking at all of our manifestos and looking for the common goals.

“That is going to be the glue that binds us.”

Ebanks, who took West Bay South, appeared on stage with fellow TCCP member Katherine Ebanks-Wilks, of West Bay Central, new West Bay West MP Julie Hunter of the CINP, and independent Rolston Anglin, who won in West Bay North.

Anglin outlined the way the coalition, which also includes independent MPs Isaac Rankine, who won in East End, and Jay Ebanks, of North Side, came together and insisted the trio had not considered backing any other power-sharing deal.

Anglin said, “We decided weeks ago, before the election. All the parties had called us to try and work out where we stood.”

But he added that, after the election, “We met with the Cayman Islands National Party and The Caymanian Community Party because, in our minds, these two parties represented the will of the people of the Cayman Islands.”

And he dismissed People’s Progressive Movement’s (PPM) jibes about the arrangement being “a marriage of convenience“.

Anglin highlighted that the TCCP and CINP between them racked up 8,549 votes to the PPM’s 5,280.

He said that the trio’s decision “was the decision of this country” and that they had ignored any other attempts to win their support.

Anglin added, “I won’t get into the offers … they sure sent lots of messages and tried to make lots of calls.”

He said he and Rankine could have taken it badly that their new coalition partners had run candidates against them.

But they were “willing to check egos, hurt feelings” and put them aside, he said, “in the best interests of the Cayman Islands”.

Ebanks said the coalition agreement would set out “policies, projects and priorities that we are going to work at pace to complete”.

He added that the new government intended to “get something done every day of the week – and sometimes over weekends”.

Ebanks said earlier that the three strands of the government had held meetings from election night into Thursday afternoon and drafted a letter to Governor Jane Owen in the North Side constituency office.

He added the governor, Deputy Governor Franz Manderson and Attorney General Samuel Bulgin appeared astonished that a deal had been brokered so fast.

Ebanks said, “We came together in less than 24 hours … we came together to put the country above ourselves.”

Following the 2021 election, it took five days of negotiations and horse trading before a government was officially formed.

Hunter, who following Wednesday election triumphed over veteran McKeeva Bush, who had held the seat for four decades, told the crowd, “We stood up and chose a new direction after 40 years.

“It’s to build a Cayman where every Caymanian thrives – this is everyone’s Cayman and we all need to thrive in our home country.”

Hunter, who will be a parliamentary secretary in “some key ministries” in the new administration, said, “I could feel a sense of pride that we had come together so quickly.”

But she asked the crowd to be patient and warned that “not everything could be done in four years”, and that the new government “had to prioritise”.

She added the new government was committed to housing, a multi-purpose hall, school development, and roads improvements in the area.

Hunter said, “We are going to be working very closely together to put our constituency back on the map.”

Ebanks-Wilks said a new dock at Morgan’s Harbour, and Apple Blossoms Gardens affordable housing would be priority projects.

She added that she was pleased not just to see Heritage Park filled for Saturday night’s meeting, but to see so many young people there.

She said education on the political process gave the electorate “people power” and that she and Hunter would be “the voice for women”. They are among five women elected to Parliament in this year’s election.

The new government will be sworn in at the House of Parliament from 2pm on Tuesday afternoon, 6 May. Full coverage will be available on Compass TV online and at Digicel channel 9, Logic channel 22, C3 channel 22 and FLOW channel 102, as well as on Cayman Compass.