As he prepares to contest his West Bay West seat one last time, former Premier McKeeva Bush has launched a new political organisation that aims to run a slate of candidates at the next general election.
The 40-year political veteran, speaking at a media conference at the Parliament committee room 1 on Tuesday morning, described the current coalition as “a mess” and said, “I don’t believe independents can manage this country”.
He said there has to be organisation in government to get things done, and the current administration has shown the need for this through its inability to take action to address critical issues.
“There’s no agreement on a lot of things,” he said, especially when it comes to the way forward on immigration policies and development projects.
Government, he said, needed clear leadership, structure and organisation to get things done, and he hopes his non-profit, Organization for a Better Cayman, can help provide that.
Bush’s launch and the recent Progressives’ appointment of Joey Hew as the new party leader have signaled that politicians are gearing up for the general election, expected in April.
Platform in the making
Though Bush said he had no formal agreements with any candidates, the West Bay West MP highlighted several current MPs as individuals he would support for re-election.
He issued an invite for those individuals, including MPs Chris Saunders, Jay Ebanks, André Ebanks, Kenneth Bryan, Katherine Ebanks-Wilks and any other like-minded individuals to be part of his new group.
He said he could not currently support Health Minister Sabrina Turner, acknowledging the two recently clashed over the delayed Poinciana mental health facility.
He said he objected to her recent statement about her approach to the situation with the long-delayed facility and casting blame on the Public Works Department.
“You cannot be hands off to that extent with an institution that is badly needed,” he said, adding that the country has a serious mental health situation.
Bush, dressed in a bright blue shirt which he said was his new orgainsation’s colour, commenced his media briefing by blasting what was described as the organisation’s theme song – Delroy Wilson’s reggae classic ‘Better Must Come’.
Also attending the meeting were Kenny Rankin and Ellio Solomon, both of whom said they were not running but had turned up to hear what Bush had to say.
Saying that Cayman needs policy direction, Bush said a change must come and it has to include ending the “British bureaucracy” that has crippled the civil service from executing plans.
Though he was the only speaker at the conference, Bush said he will not lead the organisation into the election and insisted it would be different from his now defunct United Democratic Party.
“My sole objective now is to help to ensure that the Cayman Islands is prepared to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow, and that we have policies in place that will allow our people to live the best life that they can imagine for themselves and their loved ones,” he said.
The leadership role, he said, will be determined by the board that will create the formal structure of the organisation.
He did not share the names of the board members, but said he had the backing of a number of individuals who will screen potential candidates before they make it to the Organization for a Better Cayman platform.
He said they will collaborate on a manifesto, which all candidates must sign on to so there will be no repeat of the turmoil that ensued after the 2021 general elections.
He said he would be prepared to consider working with the Progressives in a coalition if the organisation cannot secure a majority.
Policy plans
Bush said the mission of the organisation is “empowering communities through sustainable development, social justice, and holistic well-being.”
He said policy plans will include addressing immigration and the division that he says seems to be taking root in the island.
Though he said he was not “anti-growth or anti-development”, he said there is a time and place for everything.
“The time now is to limit the grant of Caymanian status to descent or marriage. Any grants outside of that needs to be looked at very carefully,” he said.
What this looks like, he said, will be determined by the organisation board.
However, he said he had a message for anyone whose behaviour could lead to the “social disharmony” other countries have experienced.
“To those people who do not want to integrate and be a part of this community, that behaviour is un-Caymanian, and I ask you to stop it. We don’t want our small islands to go down that route. Simply put, integrate or evacuate,” he said.
Caymanians who also add to the divide, he said, should recognise that the island could not have become the success it is without foreign workers or foreign investment.
“Embrace wealth or reap poverty,” he said as he urged a change in thinking.
Bush, who has openly backed the need for a cruise pier, said he did not believe in the cruise referendum and said, should his team get into government, the cruise industry will have its pier.
The referendum, he said, is not going to reflect the full feelings of the people, and he knows “this country needs the cruise industry”.
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I trust the West Bay voters will acknowledge Mr Bush has had his time in Parliament, and now more than ever we need we need to look for younger well qualified Caymanians to do their duty in running this country.
He wants expats to ‘integrate’ but he wants to take away their right to become Caymanian (and therefore, be able to actually integrate as Caymanians)? If this happens, as an expatriate business owner I will take the profits that my business generates and go live elsewhere – somewhere I would feel more welcome. It’s not about the work permit or PR fees, it’s about the feeling of being able to belong. Take this right away and a lot of high earners who have spent years working in Cayman will eventually leave, taking with them a lot of income that could have otherwise been spent in here, as well as the possibility of taking our businesses with us.
Cayman would be heading in the same direction as Bermuda, which is notorious for its divide between Bermudians and expatriates. We are currently facing a cost-of-living crisis and families are reluctant to have children, and the Caymanian population would see very limited growth if government limited the granting of Caymanian status as McKeeva wants, which would have many downsides. Don’t ruin it, McKeeva.