GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands – Premier Wayne Panton’s coalition government survived a motion of no confidence late Tuesday night with the opposition failing to receive the necessary two-thirds majority required to unseat the administration as outlined in the constitution of the British Overseas territory.
Premier Wayne Panton during the debate on the motion of no confidence against him on Tuesday (CMC Photo)When the vote was taken, eight legislators voted in favour of the motion, while seven voted against with three abstentions. Two of those abstaining came from the ruling PACT coalition.
Both the government and opposition have nine seats each in the 19-member chamber, leaving the Speaker Catherine Ebank-Wilks with a critical casting vote.
At the end of the debate, Ebank-Wilks, called for constitutional reform to be considered especially pertaining to the position of the Speaker in such situations and for the role to be autonomous.
Earlier, Premier Panton, had urged legislators to vote against the motion of no confidence in his coalition government, rejecting calls for the establishment of a government of national unity instead.
“Madam Speaker, this motion deserves to be voted down,” Panton said, telling legislators that his coalition had been delivering to the people of the Cayman islands and it is necessary now for his administration to present the national budget “to reflect the wishes they expressed in 2021 that we have been toiling to deliver on their behalf”.
But McKeeva Bush, who resigned the PACT government last Thursday, said he agrees with the Leader of the Opposition, Roy McTaggart, for the formation of the government of national unity, saying that he is prepared to serve within that administration.
McTaggart , the leader of the main opposition People’s Progressive Movement (PPM/Progressives) In piloting the motion, referred to what he called “an unprecedented situation”.
He told legislators that the motion was directed at the policy shortcomings of a dysfunctional government that has now lacked the parliamentary majority to govern effectively.
The former finance minister said he was particularly concerned about the status of the upcoming budget and its implications for the government’s economic management.
McTaggart had said that the resignation of Bush haf left Premier Panton without a viable government, and as a result he should step down.
Panton in rebutting the allegations, told legislators that he has never been about “political expediency” adding “it is not something that you want to deal with ever”.
He insisted that his coalition has been “providing stability” irrespective of the rogh ends at time and that “we are delivering what the people expect and we are doing it with integrity.
“The difficulty that we have at this point is disagreement over how we addresss things that are critically important to us,” Panton said, noting that for instance the Cayman Islands,which is seven feet above sea level, is still feeling the impact of climate change.
“The impacts are becoming clearer and these are things we cannot run away from,” he said, adding “so we have to make sure we deal with thise critical issues”.
“The motion is clearly a motion designed to be opportunistic, but is it politics, that’s the arena we are in,” Panton said, noting that governing is and will always be a hard matter.
The ruling coalition has seen three of its members leaving this year including former finance minister Chris Saunders and former labour minister Dwayne Seymour.
Political observers say the no-confidence motion also presented another constitutional issue for the Cayman Islands.
They said that while much of the attention was focused on the 13 votes needed for the motion to be successful, the Cayman Islands constitution requires a two-thirds majority for a no-confidence motion to be successful, unlike what occurs in the United Kingdom and several Overseas Territories,namely British Virgin Islands, Montserrat and Turks and Caicos Islands.
But McTaggart has said he was not in favour of early election and presented alternative options for a new coalition led by the Progressives/PPM, or a new PACT team without Panton as Premier.
