McTaggart takes over as Progressives leader
George Town East incumbent Roy McTaggart was formally introduced as the new leader of The Progressives party during a campaign launch on 13 March.
At the start of the gathering, host and Prospect candidate Austin Harris introduced the Progressives’ new leader, who was elected to the position at the party’s conference the night before.
Also at that conference, held at the Kimpton Seafire hotel on Friday, Joey Hew was elected as deputy leader and McLaughlin was named as the new party chairman.
McTaggart, who will be premier if The Progressives and Independents Alliance wins a majority in the election, took to the podium to the pounding beat of Tina Turner’s ‘Simply the Best’.
He told the crowd that the alliance’s main aim in its manifesto, which he said would be published later this month, was to “keep the people safe, first and foremost”.
He said the Progressives alliance was the only group running for election “with any significant track record”.
McLean won’t work with Bush
While The Progressives and their Alliance allies were touting their unity, Opposition Leader Arden McLean spent time in early March distancing himself from Speaker McKeeva Bush.
“The rule of law must be upheld by all of us, whether you are a member of parliament or not,” said McLean. “You are held at a higher standard when you are a member of parliament, and I am not going to support people who continually, continually, encroach on the laws and are members of Parliament.”
McLean made the statements while responding to a viewer submitted question during a Cayman Crosstalk District Debate on 9 March.
Bush was convicted in December of assaulting a female staff member, during an altercation at a West Bay Road bar in February 2019. Bush had initially denied remembering the incident, however he later stated that the incident stemmed from a disagreement over gratuities for staff members.
In January, McLean expressed a desire to move a motion of no confidence that would remove Bush from his role as Speaker. However, this motion was never heard. Instead, the unity government – of which Bush was a part – requested the early dissolution of parliament and triggered an early election.
McLean also said while he gets along with some members of the Progressives, he would not be willing work with the party’s former leader, Alden McLaughlin.
In the 2009 general election, both men secured their seats as members of the PPM (the People’s Progressive Movement which later became known as the Progressives). However, McLean later left the party and ran as an independent candidate in 2013.
Candidates quizzed on Bush
Viewers have consistently submitted questions to candidates on the Cayman Crosstalk District Debates asking whether they would work with or form a government with Bush.
West Bay Central candidate Katherine Ebanks-Wilks was quick to point out that the constitution does not prevent everyone with a criminal record from contesting elections and said she wants to see that changed before turning her attention to Bush.
“If the people vote for someone who has been convicted of a criminal offence and that person is elected, I will not refuse to work with that person. We’re talking about Mr. Bush right now, but it could be anybody. Until the constitution is changed, that’s something that everyone is subject to when we come down to election period.”
North Side candidate Ezzard Miller, of the Cayman Islands People’s Party, was a bit more brief with his answer.
“No,” Miller bellowed during the 8 March North Side debate.
His opponent, Jay Ebanks, said he was willing to work with Mr. Bush.
“If the people of West Bay elect McKeeva Bush back into power and he’s there and he’s part of the government, I’m not gonna be like you and sit down in southeast corner and not work with him.”
Another question that candidates have had to answer is whether they’d work with The Progressives should the party’s members and their allied candidates be able to form a government.
“Most of the independent candidates that are running, I’ve been listening to them, I like what they’re saying,” Ebanks-Wilks said. “Most of them want to break the status quo and I’m willing to work with anyone. I’m not going to segregate anybody out there.
“What I’m not willing to do, I’m not willing to work with a government that wants to keep things the way that they are right now.”
Suckoo leaves Opposition
Newlands candidate and former Deputy Leader of the Opposition Alva Suckoo has joined the Progressive’s alliance team, bringing to 12 the number of nominees running as part of the group in the 14 April general election.
Suckoo announced he was joining the group at the alliance’s campaign launch and made a surprise appearance on stage about an hour after the rally at the AL Thompson’s car park had gotten under way.
Suckoo was previously a member of the Progressives, before resigning from the party and joining the opposition in the Legislative Assembly in 2015 during a debate over same-sex marriage rights.
The Newlands incumbent told the crowd assembled at the rally, “Why did I choose this alliance? You just have to look around. I don’t see many masks right now. This government has steered this country through the pandemic, it has protected our financial standing, it has protected our economy, kept our people safe, and saved lives.”
McLaughlin, speaking at the rally, described Suckoo as “the prodigal son” and he welcomed him home, before appealing to other candidates to also “come home” and join the alliance. He did not name specific individuals, but there are a number of former Progressives members running as independent candidates, including Wayne Panton, Heather Bodden and Osbourne Bodden.
Independent alliances beginning to appear
It’s beginning to become clear the feelings of some candidates on whom they’d prefer to work with as several of them have made public appearances together or made statements publicily supporting one another.
George Town North independent candidate Johann Moxam in early March appeared and spoke at a campaign rally event for Red Bay independent candidate Sammy Jackson. Also present at the rally was Bodden Town West independent candidate Chris Saunders.
Moxam spoke at another of Jackson’s events later in the month, as did George Town East independent candidate Emily DeCou, and he’s also posed in photos with George Town South independent candidate Alric Lindsay.
In West Bay, three former United Democratic Party stalwarts are joining forces once again.
West Bay North candidate Rolston Anglin has appeared at rallies alongside West Bay Central candidate Eugene Ebanks and Bush, who is running in the West Bay West constitutency.
Further east, former PPM member Wayne Panton, who is running in the Newlands electoral district, has aligned himself with fellow former PPM member Osbourne Bodden, who is running in Bodden Town East. They also have formed an alliance with Savannah candidate Heather Bodden.
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