The recent visit to the Cayman Islands from Sir Michael Jay thrust to the forefront again talks about a constitution.
While the elected People’s Progressive Movement government did not discuss the subject with Mr. Jay, he did have his ear bent a bit by others on his visit.
The PPM government decided to stay away from the constitution subject because it preferred instead to wait until March, when a constitution team from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office headed by senior constitutional expert Ian Hendry arrives in the Cayman Islands.
That team is going to resume the talks that were stalled last year when then Leader of Government Business McKeeva Bush perceived an attempt by the UK to link the acceptance of the European Union Savings Tax Directive to cooperation with the constitutional modernisation process.
What the Cayman Islands is presented with now is a clean slate.
All the bickering, mud slinging and finger pointing of the past should be left there.
Everyone in the Cayman Islands needs to work for a proper constitution that will guide this country into the future.
Basic ideals such as human rights should be covered in any constitution that is adopted.
People need to make sure that they stay informed throughout the constitution modernisation process.
The PPM government has suggested in the past that the constitution go to a referendum to be decided by the voting public.
If it does, those who vote have an even bigger duty to familiarize themselves with what is included in the constitution.
The constitution issue is not going away, whether the document is approved in a referendum or through a mandate given in a general election.
The review is mandated under the UK Overseas Territories White Paper, but Caymanians should not view it merely as a duty exercise requiring no more than perfunctory treatment. There are real and urgent issues which demand decisions.
Cayman will have to begin to ponder whether changes should be made and if so, what would be the best solutions to current problems.
Should there be a party system of government, a chief minister, single-member constituencies, or a change in the way the government is formed after general elections – these are questions the people of Cayman should be thinking about.
Is it still adequate that the people vote for their district representatives rather than for a national government? Should the office of the Financial Secretary, now held by a civil servant, be turned over to an elected minister?
These are just a few of the questions which the people of these Islands should begin to mull over so that when the constitutional review begins again, these questions can be addressed by a well informed, clear-headed electorate.
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