Premier McKeeva Bush has defended his decision to bypass the Central Tenders process and award a contract to provide the Cayman Islands Government with a loan of US$185 million to the company of his choice.
Among other things, Mr. Bush has argued that the government was elected to run the country and that the final arbiter should not be an appointed board. That statement is worth looking at more closely.
In some ways, we can feel Mr. Bush’s pain. The problem with government boards seems similar to that with the civil service: too many of them feel they can do whatever they want despite the elected government’s declared intentions or policies.
Making matters worse, the Central Tenders Committee isn’t appointed by Cabinet the same way as many other boards, like the Work Permit board or the Central Planning Authority board, are appointed. This means it is conceivable that members of the Central Tenders Committee could possibly fall on the opposite side of the political fence as the elected government and their decisions could be influenced by their views, depending on the strength of their loyalties.
Obviously, this could cause significant problems for a sitting government. It’s bad enough that successive governments have had difficulties in getting their own appointed immigration boards to follow their policies; it’s even worse if a government board were to have members who were supporters of the political opposition.
Although the government might have valid reasons to disagree with the make-up of the Central Tenders Committee, it was appointed in accordance to set procedures. If the government believes that procedure is flawed, then it can be changed. As the legislators who control Cabinet, they can easily do that. What they shouldn’t do is just ignore the previously set guidelines about how things should be done in government.
The elected government needs to obey the rules of the land, whatever they are at any given time. Of course, when other laws are routinely ignored by other segments of government – like the civil service – we suppose it’s difficult for the elected government to accept that only it should play by the rules.
If the Cayman Islands are going to be seen as a country that respects the rule of law, then the government – all aspects of it – need to be more respectful of the laws of the land.
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