A new twist to the formation of a government in this British Overseas Territory following the May 24 general elections that resulted in none of the parties securing an outright victory.
A new government headed by the leader of the People’s Progressive Movement (PPM), Alden McLaughlin, will be sworn into office at 10.00 am (local time) on Wednesday after the party was able to put together a coalition with the Cayman Democratic Party (CDP).
Last weekend, McKeeva Bush, the CDP leader, said he had written to Governor Helen Kilpatrick to rescind an earlier agreement that was signed only hours earlier McLaughlin.
Bush said then he was now set to become premier.
“This has been a long and tedious election campaign with plenty of ongoing discussion happening to select who will govern the country for the next four years,” Bush said in a statement.
Now it seems Bush has now accepted the role of Speaker in the new National Assembly with McLaughlin to be sworn in as premier on Wednesday.
According to the new agreement, Moses Kirkconnell will continue to serve as Deputy Premier with independents Tara Rivers, Austin Harris and Dwayne Seymour being part of the new government.
Details of the agreement between the parties are being finalised in terms of Cabinet assignments, but McLaughlin said he has the full support of his team for the coalition and that the new government reflects the will of the people.
“You cannot guarantee that the Government is going to hold and be intact and remain at the end. There are all sorts of issues and pressures that come to bear over the course of the term. But I believe that this Government has a good chance as any to not only just hold together but to achieve what is in the next interest of the Cayman Islands over the course of the next term,” McLaughlin said.
But independent Chris Saunders, who represents Bodden Town West, said he is not supporting the new coalition.
“It sadden me from a democratic standpoint where people voted for change, but both leaders of both political parties came together to usurp the will of the people just for their own grasp for power and that is disappointing, but those are the things we know existed and that is why we ran in the first place,” Saunders said.
He said the remaining Independents will continue their discussions to nominate an Opposition Leader.
The results following the elections here showed that independent candidates had won nine seats, with seven for the incumbent PPM and three for the CDP.
The general election was historic since it was for the first time Caymanians voted for a government under the equitable system of ‘one man, one vote’ in single member consistencies.
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