GEORGE TOWN, Grand Cayman (CNS) -- The representative for North Side has described the premier’s decision to boycott the Legislative Assembly meeting requested by the opposition, set for next week, as disingenuous and disrespectful to all of members of parliament, including the speaker.
But Ezzard Miller, one of the five independent members who joined forces with the opposition members, said he will not boycott the government’s meetings in return as he said all members, including ministers, have an obligation to the people who elected them to turn up to the House when called by the speaker.
Efforts to speak with the premier about the boycott by CNS Thursday failed but Cabinet sources confirmed that none of the government members will take part in the proceedings. The premier is expected to attend alone in order to inform Speaker of the House Julianna O’Connor-Connolly, who is also a member of the ruling PPM and who agreed to the meeting, that the government MLAs would not be participating in the debate requested by the opposition benches to discuss two private members’ motions relating to the recent controversies surrounding the RCIPS.
Miller said he was “very disappointed”, as it means the motions, which he considers to be very important and not, as implied by government, political opportunism, will now not be discussed until much later in the current meeting. He said government business will take precedence over private members’ motions because since taking office, the premier has changed standing orders regularly to push private motions to the end of meetings.
Describing McLaughlin’s remarks in the local daily paper as childish, Miller pointed out that politicians are not elected to the Government Administration Building but to the Legislative Assembly and if the speaker calls a meeting, all MLAs have a duty to their constituents as well as the speaker and other members to turn up.
“Government is disrespecting the people, parliament and the speaker,” he said. “This is undermining her authority and if I were her, I would resign over this.”
Miller suggested that the government was bordering on contempt of parliament with the decision to boycott a meeting already set by the speaker, who is a member of the government. The North Side member also reminded all of his political colleagues that it was in the Legislative Assembly not the government’s HQ where the checks and balances are and where elected officials are held to account.
Miller denied that the move by the opposition members regarding the motions was pure politics and said it was the premier not the opposition benches that was playing games and being childish. He accused the country’s leader of “taking the ball home” because he did not like the idea that the opposition and independent members had used their recently boosted ranks to call the meeting, in line with standing orders.
“This is not about political expediency but respect for parliament,” the North Side member said, adding that he would not be retaliating and would be attending all parliamentary meetings, regardless of who wants them, when called to attend by the speaker.
Given the new lineup in the LA and government’s narrowed majority, the procedural issues are still in question. The government currently has a majority of just one on the floor, as the speaker has only a casting vote. There has also been questions about whether or not she can be included in the count for a quorum for any LA meeting, which is ten, leaving the government benches dependent on at least one member of the opposition turning up for a meeting to be valid.
CNS understands that one minister is overseas on 13 April, the day set for the special meeting, which would mean government would only be able to defeat the motions with help from the speaker and could lose the vote if just one more member is absent or misses the call to vote.
McLaughlin has claimed that the boycott is because the meeting is not necessary since one has already been set and agreed just twelve days later, and that the motions will reach the order paper during that meeting. There are also concerns among government members that the motions will only serve to further undermine national security rather than address the real underlying problems with the RCIPS.
But with the governor still dragging her feet on appointing someone to undertake a review of how the police handled the search and rescue of five people, including two children, lost at sea last month and no sign of a real reorganization of the police management structure despite, and Police Commissioner David Baines’ early departure, the opposition members still feel the two motions are of national importance.