Leader of Opposition asks Deputy Speaker to reconsider her decision Loop Cayman Islands

Black Immigrant Daily News

It is Friday, October 7, 2022 and House of Parliament in the Cayman Islands will meet and members of Parliament are expected to vote on a motion of no confidence in the ruling PACT government.

If two thirds of elected members vote “yes” for the motion, it will pass.

The private member’s motion for the vote of no confidence in the Speaker of Parliament, however, was still being debated as of yesterday.

According to the Deputy Speaker, who was asked to make a decision to accept or refuse that motion, her position stated in a letter dated October 6 is that:

The Cayman Islands Parliament Standing Orders 24(5) provides that “no Member shall make a motion unless that Member has given notice in writing of that motion either at some previous sitting of the House, or to the Clerk, not less than five clear days prior to the commencement of the meeting of the House at which such motion is to be made.

The Notice received from the Clerk dated 9 September 2022 (attached herewith for your ease of reference) expressly excludes the weekends in the calculation of the 5 clear days.

In my opinion, this said Standing Order, when viewed together with the usage and practice of our Parliament in calculating the 5 clear days, the said Motion would be deemed as out of time for this Meeting.

In other words, while the notice was received by the Clerk of Parliament on Friday September 30, the Deputy Speaker’s position of yesterday means that Friday, September 30, Saturday, October 1, Sunday, October 2 and Friday October 7 are not counted towards satisfying the five clear days’ notice period requirement. Based on this count, only Monday to Thursday, being four clear days, are counted and therefore, the Deputy Speaker determined that the notice was “out of time”.

The Leader of the Opposition, however, disagrees with the position of the Deputy Speaker. The Leader of the Opposition said that the Deputy Speaker’s ruling is patently wrong because the five clear days’ notice period must be interpreted in accordance with the Interpretation Act.

Quoting the Interpretation Act, the Leader of the Opposition said:

The provisions of the Interpretation Act supersede any usage or practice of our Parliament in calculating the 5 clear days.

It thus follows that in computing the notice period for the Lack of Confidence in the Speaker motion, you do not count Friday 30 September (the date the motion was filed) or Sunday (an excluded day) or Friday 7 (the date of commencement of the Meeting). However, you must count Saturday 1 October, Monday 3 October, Tuesday 4 October, Wednesday 5 October and Thursday 6 October. That gives 5 clear days and thus the Motion should be accepted as it is in full compliance with all relevant Standing Orders.

The Leader of the Opposition has therefore asked the Deputy Speaker to reconsider her decision not to allow the Lack of Confidence in the Speaker motion to proceed when Parliament commences today, October 7, 2022.

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