New MPs get straight to work in Parliament

A day after being sworn into office, Cayman’s new MPs on Wednesday got down to business by selecting members for parliamentary committees and delivering their post-election speeches of thanks.

At that meeting, it was determined that opposition MPs will make up the majority of members of the Public Accounts Committee, the body that holds government accountable for how it spends its money.

Of the six members of the committee, four will come from the opposition benches — independent Chris Saunders and three PPM representatives, Roy McTaggart, Kenneth Bryan and Roy Tatum, with McTaggart as chairman. The other two members will be government MPs Julie Hunter and Wayne Panton.

Ezzard Miller, in his new role as speaker of Parliament, oversaw the formation of the Public Accounts Committee, which he himself chaired for many years, as well as the House Committee, the Select Committee on Privileges, and the Select Committee for the Oversight of the Office of the Ombudsman.

The House Committee will consist of Katherine Ebanks-Wilks, Nickolas DaCosta and Heather Bodden from the government benches, and Joey Hew and Tatum from the opposition.

The members of the Select Committee on Privileges is made up of all members of the House, while the Select Committee for the Oversight of the Office of the Ombudsman will include Hunter, Jay Ebanks and Deputy Premier Gary Rutty from the National Coalition For Caymanians government and Saunders and Pearlina McGaw-Lumsden from the opposition bench.

Starting Parliament on time

Miller, considered a stickler for protocol and an expert in the Standing Orders of Parliament, ensured the first day of post-swearing-in business started on time — something several MPs commented on, as parliamentary meetings are notorious for beginning late.

Dwayne Seymour, MP for Bodden Town East, congratulating Miller on his appointment as speaker, commented to him, “I see how you started today. I wasn’t surprised, but I surprised myself by being on time.”

Panton, former premier and MP for Newlands, told Miller, “We are all looking forward to a well-run Parliament, starting on time, and the fair application of the Standing Orders by yourself, sir.”

In an effort to keep proceedings running smoothly and swiftly, Miller, who opted not to wear his formal speaker’s wig for the meeting, urged representatives delivering their post-election ‘thank you’ speeches to keep them to a brief three minutes.

“There’s a big clock over there, so you can time yourselves,” he said.

Some did keep within that time limit, though most did not.

Giving thanks

Members took turns to thank God, their families, their election committees and the voters who supported them.

A number of the politicians also took time to thank their families for putting up with the mud slinging during the election campaigns.

Leader of the Opposition Joey Hew, in his first speech of this electoral term, thanked his wife and sons for their support, adding, “You have stood by me through four elections now; each one seems harder than the other. I apologise for the late nights, exposing you to sometimes vicious and cruel comments on social media, the missed special occasions and emotional rollercoaster you have had to endure over the past several months.”

Panton also made reference to “misinformation” and comments “made in poor taste” that were “deliberately done to hurt feelings”, which, he said, had crossed the line during the campaign.

In his speech, Hew reiterated his earlier comments about the new coalition government being formed as a result of “negotiations and not the clear will of the people“, noting that the PPM had secured the most seats of any individual party. The PPM won seven seats, the Cayman Islands National Party and The Caymanian Community Party each won four seats, and independents also secured four seats in the 30 April election.

In response to Hew’s comments, DaCosta, MP for Cayman Brac West and Little Cayman, who is now a member of the NCFC government, said, “We’ve been called a marriage of convenience, but I think it’s more of an arranged marriage, an arrangement for people over politics, an arrangement to bring unity, prosperity and hope to all Caymanians throughout our islands.”

Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, MP for Cayman Brac East, who served as premier in the last administration from November 2023 until last week’s election, in her speech noted that six members are Cayman Brackers, either “holistically or partially”, and “that gives me great confidence that the Sister Islands will be well represented by 33.3% of the entire Parliament”.

Julie Hunter, MP for West Bay West, in her first speech in the House, thanked those in her constituency who had voted for her, taking the district in “a new direction”.

She also thanked her predecessor, McKeeva Bush, for his “over 40 years of service to the Cayman Islands”, adding, to the sound of knocking on desks from fellow MPs in support of her comments, “He spent more than half of his life serving these islands and, for that, we say, ‘Thank you’.”

Miller adjourned the House sine die, meaning it will resume at an unspecified later date.