News

Bodden Town West MLA Chris Saunders calls on Overseas Territories Minister Lord Tariq Ahmad to ensure that no changes are made to Cayman Islands Constitution without the consent of the people of Cayman Islands, who must have a say in the matter.

MLA Saunders has written to the UK Minister on the issue, since he believes this step was necessary after the motion, he filed in the last Legislative Assembly session on the issue was not accepted by the Speaker.

Additionally, he says he did not want to run the risk of any changes being made between now and the next LA session before his motion is debated.

Mr. Saunders believes it is important for the public to be educated that any changes on the Constitution are not done by the local Legislature, but rather by the UK Parliament as evidenced by the case in July 2016 (Statutory Instruments – 2016 No. 780) with regards to the tenure and discipline of Judges where the retirement age for Judges were moved to 70 and created an inconsistency in the normal retirement age for other civil servants.

Mr. Saunders also believes that what he is asking for is consistent with the position taken by then former Opposition Leader Hon. Kurt Tibbetts, Moses Kirkconnell, Arden McLean, Anthony Eden, and Alden McLaughlin back in 2010 when they wrote the then Premier, Hon. McKeeva Bush, opposing any changes to the Constitution without a referendum.

Leader of the Opposition Hon. Arden McLean endorses Mr. Saunders’ letter saying:

“I am really sorry that my colleague from Bodden Town West had to take this step. It goes to show that Premier McLaughlin's hypocrisy knows no bounds and he would do anything to further his grip of power.”.

He went on to question, “Why is the Premier afraid of people power, and people having a say on matters that impact their lives in a significant way?”