2013 Caymanian general election

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2013 Caymanian general election
Flag of the Cayman Islands.svg
←  2009 22 May 2013 2017  →
18 seats in the Legislative Assembly of the Cayman Islands
10 seats needed for a majority
Turnout79.93% [1]
PartyLeaderVote %Seats+/–
PPM Alden McLaughlin 36.079+4
UDP McKeeva Bush 27.753−6
C4C 18.613New
PNA Juliana O'Connor-Connolly 5.671New
Independents –11.902+1
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Premier beforePremier after
Juliana O'Connor-Connolly
PNA 		Alden McLaughlin
PPM
Progressive leader Alden McLaughlin, who formed a new government after the election. Alden McLaughlin, Premier, Cayman Islands.jpg
Progressive leader Alden McLaughlin, who formed a new government after the election.

General elections were held in the Cayman Islands on 22 May 2013. [2] The incumbent United Democratic Party (UDP) government fell on a motion of non-confidence in December 2012 and was replaced by an interim government made up of former UDP members who formed the People's National Alliance (PNA). The main competition in the election was between the People's Progressive Movement (Progressives) and the UDP, with the PNA and a new political group the Coalition for Cayman (C4C) presenting an insufficient number of candidates to win a majority government.

Contents

The Progressives won half of the seats (9), with the UDP and C4C taking 3 each, and outgoing Premier of the Cayman Islands Juliana O'Connor-Connolly holding the only seat for the PNA. The two incumbent independents were also re-elected. Progressive leader Alden McLaughlin formed a new government.

Background

In the 2009 elections, the United Democratic Party led by its founder and former Premier McKeeva Bush won a majority government. Bush returned to office as Premier until December 2012, when he lost a motion of confidence in the legislature. The confidence motion was triggered by a criminal investigation of Bush and was supported by the opposition People's Progressive Movement and dissident members of his own party, including members of the cabinet. A new government was formed by these dissidents, led by Bush's former deputy Juliana O'Connor-Connolly. Bush would later be charged with four counts of breach of trust, and five counts of theft. Bush continued to lead his party. O'Connor-Connolly and her cabinet formed their own party called the People's National Alliance, [3] but only the five incumbent cabinet ministers stood as candidates under its banner. A fourth party, the Coalition for Cayman, put forward seven candidates, whilst 17 independents also contested the elections. [4]

Electoral system

The outgoing Legislative Assembly had 18 members, of which three were appointed (the Chief Secretary, the Attorney-General and the Financial Secretary) and 15 were elected. [2] However, under constitutional changes passed in 2009, the new assembly will have 18 elected members. [5] George Town gained 2 new seats, and Bodden Town gained one new seat. Each of the six districts forms a constituency, with six members elected in George Town, four each in West Bay and Bodden Town, two in Cayman Brac and Little Cayman and one in North Side and East End. The members of the multi-member districts are elected by plurality-at-large voting, where every voter can vote for as many candidates as there are seats.

Results

The opposition Progressives more than doubled their seat count to 9, bringing them one seat short of an overall majority. Progressive leader Alden McLaughlin has said he will talk with Change for Cayman (C4C) and independent MLAs about the possibility of supporting his government. Another option would be having an opposition member become speaker, which would give the Progressives a majority of 9-8 among voting members. [6]

The opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) lost 1 seat but was down 6 from their 2009 result, and failed to sweep the West Bay district for the first time in 12 years. The governing People's National Alliance, a breakaway group from the UDP, lost 4 of its 5 seats. C4C, a new political organization, won 3 seats, while incumbent independents Ezzard Miller and Arden McLean (a former Progressive) held their seats.

PartyVotes%Seats+/–
People's Progressive Movement 21,85936.079+4
United Democratic Party 16,81627.753–6
Coalition for Cayman 11,27518.613New
People's National Alliance 3,4365.671New
Independents 7,21211.902+1
Total60,598100.0018+3
Total votes14,760–
Registered voters/turnout18,49279.82
Source: Elections Office

By district

DistrictCandidatePartyVotes %
Bodden Town Anthony Eden People's Progressive Movement 1,78149.57
Osbourne Bodden People's Progressive Movement 1,61544.95
Wayne Panton People's Progressive Movement 1,57143.72
Alva Suckoo People's Progressive Movement 1,39338.77
Maureen Pitcairn United Democratic Party 1,35237.63
Charles Clifford Independent 1,22033.95
Christopher Saunders United Democratic Party 1,09830.56
Mark ScotlandPeople's National Alliance86424.05
Dwayne SeymourPeople's National Alliance71219.82
Errington Webster Independent 51214.25
Arnold Berry Independent 2065.73
Gregg Anderson Independent 1925.34
Vincent Frederick Independent 1363.79
Cayman Brac and Little Cayman Moses Kirkconnell People's Progressive Movement 62875.21
Julianna O'Connor-Connolly People's National Alliance46155.21
David Bodden Independent 18622.28
Maxine McCoy-Moore Independent 9311.14
East End Arden McLean Independent 31757.22
John McLean Independent 23742.78
George Town Kurt Tibbetts People's Progressive Movement 2,47042.38
Roy McTaggart Coalition for Cayman 2,16037.06
Alden McLaughlin People's Progressive Movement 2,14536.81
Marco Archer People's Progressive Movement 2,08535.78
Winston Conolly Coalition for Cayman 2,03934.99
Joseph Hew People's Progressive Movement 1,94033.29
Michael Adam United Democratic Party 1,88932.41
Sharon Roulstone Coalition for Cayman 1,81231.09
Lucille Seymour People's Progressive Movement 1,76830.34
Kenneth Bryan People's Progressive Movement 1,73529.77
Jude Scott Coalition for Cayman 1,68128.84
Derrington Miller Independent 1,59027.28
Ellio Solomon United Democratic Party 1,52826.22
Jonathan Piercy United Democratic Party 1,43924.69
Walling Whittaker United Democratic Party 1,41324.25
Renard Moxam United Democratic Party 1,34523.08
Rayal Bodden United Democratic Party 1,33022.82
Stefan Baraud Independent 1,12419.29
Jaqueline Hayes Coalition for Cayman 1,03517.76
Frank McField Independent 2113.62
Mathew Leslie Independent 911.56
North Side Ezzard Miller Independent 32670.11
Joseph Ebanks Independent 13929.89
West Bay McKeeva Bush United Democratic Party 1,58347.27
Tara Rivers Coalition for Cayman 1,48344.28
Bernie Bush United Democratic Party 1,46043.60
Eugene Ebanks United Democratic Party 1,30739.03
Velma Powery-Hewitt United Democratic Party 1,07232.01
Mervin Smith Coalition for Cayman 1,06531.80
Woody DaCosta People's Progressive Movement 85525.53
Rolston AnglinPeople's National Alliance78223.35
Ray Farrington People's Progressive Movement 67120.04
Dalkeith Bothwell People's Progressive Movement 65019.41
Cline GliddenPeople's National Alliance61718.42
Bryan Ebanks People's Progressive Movement 55216.48
Dwene Ebanks Independent 37011.05
Andrea Christian Independent 2627.82

Aftermath

Government formation

No party won an overall majority, but with the Progressives winning half of the seats and three times more seats than any other grouping, they're expected to form the government, either on their own or in coalition with independent members. It is expected that the government will be formed within a week of the election. [6]

Independent members-elect from the C4C group and others had held preliminary talks among themselves to see about forming a coalition government with the Progressives. [7] However, Alden McLaughlin's Progressives have secured a workable majority in the legislature by getting the agreement of outgoing premier Juliana O'Connor-Connolly to serve as speaker, leaving the Progressives a 9-8 majority of ordinarily voting members. McLaughlin held a news conference on Saturday May 25 naming the Progressives that would sit in cabinet and also indicating that he had asked C4C-backed MLA Tara Rivers to join the cabinet, which would give the government a 10-7 working majority. [8] Thereafter, Rivers held a public meeting to assess her constituents views on whether to join the cabinet, the public was nearly unanimous in supporting her to join. [9] Following Rivers public meeting, the two other C4C MLAs indicated that they would reconsider their previous announcement not to join the government. As a result, McLaughlin cancelled a planned morning news conference on Tuesday May 28 in order to have further discussions with the C4C MLAs with an eye to a potential Progressives/C4C coalition government. [10]

Later Tuesday, it was announced that O'Connor-Connolly would join the Progressive caucus despite earlier statements that she would not do so when she was announced as speaker. As a result, the Progressives have a true majority of 10-8 allowing them to be appointed to government by the Governor of the Cayman Islands without a vote of the legislature. [11] Thereafter, McLaughlin announced the full make-up of his cabinet, including a portfolio for C4C MLA Tara Rivers. McLaughlin also announced that C4C MLA Winston Connolly would sit in the government caucus and play a role in Rivers' ministry in a non-cabinet position and that the government would support the other C4C MLA Roy McTaggart for chair of the Public Accounts Committee. [12] Two weeks after the election, McTaggart crossed the floor to sit with his C4C colleagues in the government caucus, accordingly he will have to step down from his position as Chairman of Public Accounts, a post always occupied by an opposition member. [13] This leaves the government with a 13-5 majority.

Electoral reform

This will be the last election under the block voting system as a result of the election of the Progressives. Progressive leader Alden McLaughlin reiterated his commitment after the election to move to a "one man one vote" system with a single-member electoral districts. McLaughlin will use the result of the non-binding 2012 referendum on such a system rather than holding a new referendum. [6]

Eligibility challenges

After the results of the vote, the husband of the fifth-place finisher in the West Bay electoral district Velma Powery-Hewitt, filed a suit in the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands challenging the eligibility of Tara Rivers to have run and serve in the legislative assembly. Had the challenge been successful, Powery-Hewitt stood to take Rivers' seat in the legislature.

The Cayman Islands constitution forbids election to the legislative assembly to a person:

The challenger argued that Rivers had been absent to the UK for more than 400 days where Rivers worked at a law firm. Rivers argued that her work at the law firm included extensive training and that it should be deemed "attendance as a student at (an) educational establishment" as permitted by the constitution. The challenger also argued that by applying for and receiving a U.S. passport, to which Rivers was entitled by virtue of having been born there, she was express allegiance to the United States and was therefore ineligible under the restrictions against dual citizenship. Rivers argued that no allegiance was given in exchange for the passport and that she was required by law as a U.S. citizen to enter the U.S. using a U.S. passport, not the passport of another country.

The court ruled with Rivers and she was allowed to keep her seat. [14] This prompted some complaint from others who did not present themselves as candidates though they had the same qualifications as Rivers but were advised they were ineligible to run by elections officials, and by an individual who had renounced her U.S. citizenship believing she had to do so to run. Powery-Hewitt's husband later attempted to appeal the decision, [15] but as the Constitution states that electoral questions are the sole jurisdiction of the Grand Court, the Court of Appeal declined to hear the case. [16]

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References

  1. ↑ Fuller, Brent (22 May 2013). "Polls close, 15,000 voters turn out". compasscayman.com. Archived from the original on 2013-06-28.
  2. 1 2 "IFES Election Guide | Country Profile: Cayman Islands". electionguide.org. Retrieved 2021-06-18.
  3. ↑ Connolly, Norma (26 March 2013). "People's National Alliance formed :: Elections Coverage 2013". compasscayman.com. Archived from the original on 2013-03-30.
  4. ↑ "Cayman Islands general election Wednesday". jamaicaobserver.com. 20 May 2013. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2013-05-21.
  5. ↑ "The Legislative Assembly". gov.ky. 2009-11-04. Archived from the original on 2013-09-04.
  6. 1 2 3 Whittaker, James (24 May 2013). "Progressives look to form government :: Elections Coverage 2013". compasscayman.com. Archived from the original on 2013-06-07.
  7. ↑ Whittaker, James (28 May 2013). "Alternative government plan fails :: Elections Coverage 2013". compasscayman.com. Archived from the original on 2013-06-09.
  8. ↑ Watler, Kevin; Kennedy, Paul (25 May 2013). "New government revealed". cayman27.com.ky. Archived from the original on 2013-06-09. Retrieved 2013-05-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  9. ↑ Connolly, Norma (27 May 2013). "West Bay tells Rivers to take Cabinet post". compasscayman.com. Archived from the original on 2013-06-28.
  10. ↑ Fuller, Brent (28 May 2013). "Coalition gov't in the offing". compasscayman.com. Archived from the original on 2013-06-15.
  11. ↑ Connolly, Norma (28 May 2013). "Juliana joins PPM". compasscayman.com. Archived from the original on 2013-06-28.
  12. ↑ Whittaker, James (28 May 2013). "New Premier confirms his government". compasscayman.com. Archived from the original on 2013-06-08.
  13. ↑ Watler, Kevin (6 June 2013). "Roy McTaggart appointed as a Councillor". cayman27.com.ky. Archived from the original on 2013-06-09. Retrieved 2013-06-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  14. ↑ Watler, Kevin; Sulliman, Tammi (9 August 2013). "Chief Justice: Hon. Tara Rivers keeps WB seat". cayman27.com.ky. Archived from the original on 2013-08-13. Retrieved 2013-08-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  15. ↑ Stoner, Tad (26 August 2013). "Lawyers ask Court of Appeal to overturn Tara Rivers decision :: cayCompass.com". compasscayman.com. Archived from the original on 2013-08-29.
  16. ↑ Stoner, Tad (18 November 2013). "Court rejects challenge to Rivers's eligibility". compasscayman.com. Archived from the original on 2013-11-20. Retrieved 2013-11-18.
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