It appears House Speaker McKeeva Bush has, again, escaped a vote of no-confidence against him, after the Opposition’s planned vote to oust him from the Chair was rejected on Wednesday.
Opposition Leader Roy McTaggart, in a statement Wednesday afternoon, announced that the motion was not accepted for the upcoming Parliament meeting on Friday.
“This afternoon I received a notice from the Clerk of Parliament notifying me that the Deputy Speaker of Parliament disapproved the motion on ‘Lack of Confidence in the Speaker’ filed by myself and seconded by Ms. Barbara Conolly, the Parliamentary Representative for George Town South,” McTaggart said.
He said no explanation for the non-approval was provided.
“The motion complies in every material respect with the Standing Orders of the House, and it is therefore surprising and alarming that it appears to have been disapproved arbitrarily as no reason was given,” he said.
Describing the action as “unprecedented” in his experience, McTaggart said he has written to the Deputy Speaker Katherine Ebanks-Wilks requesting that she provide the “substantive reasons” for not accepting the motion.
“The Cayman Islands over the years has been a sound democracy. It should be noted that in the Westminster Parliamentary systems an official like the Speaker should remain in office only so long as he/she enjoys the confidence of the majority of the elected members,” he reminded.
Police investigation ‘nearing completion’
The motion follows calls for Bush to step down since allegations of inappropriate behaviour at a government cocktail reception at the Ritz-Carlton emerged last month.
Police launched an investigation into the allegations.
Late Wednesday afternoon, Commissioner of Police Derek Byrne, in a statement issued by the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, confirmed that the investigation is nearly done.
The statement, which did not name Bush but referred to him instead as a “senior politician”, noted that an investigation file on the matter “is nearing completion, and will be submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions”.
Opposition stands by motion
Though he did not say what the next step will be for the Opposition, McTaggart reiterated he stands by the motion.
“Despite calls for the resignation of the Speaker of House from various individuals in the Cayman Islands, including the Premier and the Governor, no reason was given for not allowing this important motion for debate. I, along with my colleagues, believe that this motion deals with a matter which is of grave concern to all those who are resident in the Cayman Islands, but also to those who do business here,” he said.
The Compass has reached out to Ebanks-Wilks to clarify why the motion was rejected; we are awaiting a response.
Caught by surprise
Parliament, which was initially scheduled to sit on 5 Oct., was pushed back two days without explanation last week moving the date of the meeting to Friday, 8 Oct.
This gave government MP Dwayne Seymour the time he needed to file a new motion – to bolster support for the government.
It seemed the Opposition team thought they had the same opportunity and were confident of their new motion’s security.
McTaggart, speaking on ‘For The Record’ on Radio Cayman earlier on Wednesday morning, said, “That two-day extension gave us a real windfall.”
“After that deadline passed for the Speaker to resign, we said we would wait and see how things unwound and how things transpired. We said we’d give it a few days and, to be honest, the deadline came upon us and we missed the opportunity, so that extension by two days really gave us the opportunity… to deal with it and … to do our best to ensure it would be heard in the next session of Parliament,” he said.
It was only after nothing was filed by the government and Bush did not tender his resignation that McTaggart filed his own motion, seconded by George Town South MP Barbara Conolly, last Friday.
It was the latest development amid a groundswell of pressure demanding Bush be removed from the prestigious role.
It followed a renewed urging from Premier Wayne Panton last week for Bush to step down after his initial call for the MP to resign by 23 Sept.
Removing the Speaker is not a simple process and a vote, in the absence of an outright resignation, would need the support of two-thirds of MPs to force Bush to leave the post.
The Opposition still has its lack of confidence in the PACT government motion, which was filed on 21 Sept., to debate.
Through that motion they are seeking to remove the current administration and form a “coalition of the capable” to run the jurisdiction for the remainder of the current term.
McTaggart, who filed the motion, seconded by his deputy Joey Hew, had appealed to all Members of Parliament to support the proposal since they would need a two thirds majority for it to carry.
However, there is also a counter-motion, filed by government MP Dwayne Seymour, seeking parliament’s endorsement of the sitting government.
The one-line motion, which was seconded by East End MP Isaac Rankine and Savannah MP Heather Bodden, simply states “be it resolved that Parliament does declare full confidence in the government”.
Additional reporting by Norma Connolly
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