McTaggart files motion for vote of no confidence in the Speaker Loop Cayman Islands

Black Immigrant Daily News

The Leader of the Opposition, Hon Roy McTaggart, confirmed in a statement that a private member’s motion for a vote of no confidence in the Speaker of Parliament was filed today (September 30, 2022).

Following the filing of the motion, McTaggart said in a statement that “despite his letter demanding the resignation of the Hon. McKeeva Bush as Speaker, the Premier does not appear to have any intention of acting to ensure the removal of Mr Bush from the post.”

McTaggart also questioned the Premier’s actions since the issuance by the Premier of the strongly worded letter to Mr Bush. McTaggart said:

But given the Premier’s failure to act despite the deadline given to Mr Bush having passed, and Mr Bush refusing to step down, I now have to ask the Premier what are his priorities? I suspect that they are all about desperately trying to keep his government intact.

In the absence of a letter of resignation being voluntarily submitted to the Parliament by the Speaker indicating that he will step down, the Speaker will remain in the post.

McTaggart is now taking one of the few remaining options available under the constitution of the Cayman Islands i.e., to obtain the vote of two-thirds of the elected members of the Parliament on a motion expressing no confidence in the Speaker.

It is unclear who would be voted in as the new Speaker should the vote on the private member’s motion of no confidence be successful.

The full statement of The Leader of the Opposition is below

“I have today filed in Parliament a motion of ‘Lack of Confidence in the Speaker, the Hon. McKeeva Bush OBE, JP’. The motion is seconded by Ms Barbara Conolly, MP for George Town South, and supported by the entire Opposition.

It has been increasingly obvious to me over the past week that despite his letter demanding the resignation of the Hon. McKeeva Bush as Speaker, the Premier does not appear to have any intention of acting to ensure the removal of Mr Bush from the post. The most recent confirmation of this is the Premier’s excuse that the Opposition’s filing of a motion of a Lack of Confidence in the Government somehow complicates his handling of the matter of Mr Bush and he went on to question the Opposition’s priorities.

But given the Premier’s failure to act despite the deadline given to Mr Bush having passed, and Mr Bush refusing to step down, I now have to ask the Premier what are his priorities? I suspect that they are all about desperately trying to keep his government intact.

Nonetheless, if the Premier insists that he will dither on this as he does on everything else, then it becomes my responsibility to do what the Premier is afraid to do. And so I have brought the motion to ensure that the Parliament has an opportunity to decide whether the Hon McKeeva Bush remains as Speaker or not.

I remind the public that it was the Premier who took Mr Bush into his Government following the last election, and it was the Progressives who decided that it was better to be in Opposition than to again form a Government with Mr Bush.”

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