Bryan blocks Opposition no confidence vote

All members of the Opposition are in favour of a no confidence motion in the House Speaker McKeeva Bush and the holding of a special sitting of the Legislative Assembly, apart from George Town Central MLA Kenneth Bryan. As a result of the Opposition’s failure to gain unanimous support of the move, they cannot request a meeting of the Legislative Assembly, as called for by North Side MLA and member of the Opposition, Ezzard Miller.

In a press release issued Monday, the Opposition said their remaining members believed that the public should expect that those who sought, and were privileged to hold public office, should be held to a higher standard of conduct and that they were duty bound to protect the integrity of the people’s House.

Late last week Mr Miller asked for support from his fellow Opposition members to call for a special sitting of the House to elect a new Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, following the resignation of the former Deputy Speaker of the House, Bernie Bush. He also wanted the House to hold a debate on a no confidence motion in House Speaker McKeeva Bush, who has taken temporary leave following an incident involving the assault of the female Coral Beach Bar manager on February 21st, in which McKeeva Bush was allegedly involved, a matter currently under investigation by the RCIPS.

The Opposition’s press release stated that throughout Cayman’s recorded history, there had been many examples of people taking responsibility for their actions or inactions.

“It is imperative that all of us, as elected representatives of the people, demonstrate our mettle and let the public know where we stand on this very serious issue,” they said. “While we are also aware that there is also an ongoing criminal investigation, we think it would be rather hypocritical of us, as political leaders, to require members of the Public Service to..."not, at any time, engage in any activity that brings his ministry, portfolio, statutory authority, government company, the public service or the government into disrepute"...but have a different standard for our conduct.”

Inaction was therefore not an option, they stated.

They went on to comment that they felt they had to ensure decisions taken about the functioning of the Legislative Assembly were democratic and constitutionally legitimate.

“This is the time for the Legislative Assembly to function at its best,” they stated. “Members of the Legislative Assembly have two choices in this matter. Either we rise to meet the demands of our office, or we pull our office down to a lower level. We cannot say we value fairness and accountability and be silent or passive when we were elected to be the voice of the voiceless.”

The Opposition said they now urged all elected members of Government to support the opening of the Legislative Assembly to address this urgent matter.

They ended their press release with the hashtag #sheissupported, signifying their support for the new movement protesting against domestic and workplace violence which began last Friday outside the Glass House, which was initiated following the assault of the female Coral Beach bar manager.