CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE PRE-COALITION KIND?

By Staff Writer

The Chamber of Commerce’s 2025 candidates forum series kicked off last week and immediately highlighted one of the contrasts in the election campaign. What is already noticeable is the split between the numerically heavily contested constituencies, and those with just two candidates - but even so, where political reputations are on the line.

The first ‘forum’ last Thursday focused on the East End constituency and featured the five competing candidates, including the incumbent.

Ten questions were thrown at them in a round-robin format without any supplementary or follow-ups.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, the second forum on Friday featured the only two candidates fielding twelve questions.

In the proverbial hot seat for the East End constituency forum was the incumbent Isaac Rankine - running as an independent and who was part of the PACT and United People’s Movement(UPM) governments since the last election in 2021.

Challenging him are Delmira Bodden of the People’s Progressive Movement (PPM/Progressives) Gueva Richards of the Cayman Islands National Party(CINP), along with Roydell Carter and John B. McLean Jr running as independents.

For the North Sound district, it’s a two-man battle between incumbent Johany ‘Jay’ Ebanks running as an independent (and who was also part of the PACT and United People’s Movement(UPM) governments since the last election in 2021) fighting to keep his seat. His challenger is Justin Ebanks of PPM.

Starting with the forum for the East End constituency, the ten questions raised - many of which appeared in the second forum - seem designed to recur during the season of forums.

Questions in this edition dealt with matters such as the cost of living, healthcare insurance coverage, traffic congestion, beach erosion on Seven Mile Beach, cruise tourism, education and immigration, as well as their priorities for the East End district and constituency.

While we are not rating or ranking candidates’ performance, the pressure was clearly on the incumbent Isaac Rankine. His track record for the constituency and shared responsibilities for national policy as part of the last two governments would normally be in the spotlight for the other candidates seeking to grab his seat.

It’s fair to say that his record was not subjected to the level of scrutiny by his opponents who in their answers dealt more with how they viewed the issue presented rather than scrutinising the record of the incumbent.

In fact, there appeared to be an atmosphere of broad agreement on the importance of the issues posed in the questions and less probing of each other by the opposing candidates.

One matter highlighted in Thursday’s session - though not itself as a specific topic - was that of crime. Another concern that echoed across just about every other question posed to the candidates was that of immigration policy which drew strident reactions from all the candidates more so than any other matter.

That was also evident albeit to a lesser degree in Friday’s North Sound constituency forum.

A stand-out feature was how the candidates - Ebanks the incumbent and Ebanks the challenger - approached the housing question.  They broadly agreed not just on the demand for housing but also on building upwards instead of outwards. The only difference seemed to be the pace and process at which this issue is being addressed.

Also, with a three-issue referendum part of the ballot on election day, it was at best puzzling to hear challenger Ebanks declare that he did not wish to ‘influence how people vote on the cruise pier issue’.

But that’s precisely why it’s on the ballot?

More direct interactions are anticipated as the forums roll on, culminating with an actual debate between the leaders planned for April 9th.