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House Speaker Hon. McKeeva Bush addressed youth participants from high schools and tertiary institutions at a “Roadshow” to highlight parliamentary democracy. The event was organised by the Secretary General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA).

Mr. Bush, attending the CPA’s 44^th annual conference of the Caribbean, Americas and Atlantic Region this week in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, was a guest speaker at the Roadshow. Begun by the CPA Secretary General, Mr. Akbar Khan in 2016, with the first one held in Grand Cayman, the Roadshow is now a part of the CPA regional conference.

Mr. Bush highlighted the rules of Parliament, the code of conduct that Members must abide by as well as the rules which govern the business of the House.

He said that one rule decrees that the Speaker cannot join in the debate in the House. Yet there is no rule which forbids the Speaker as an Elected Member to voice the feelings of his constituents and speak for them outside the House, within the Cayman Islands or outside the nation, he noted.

Those who oppose the Speaker because he voices his opinion on matters of development or any other important issue “are not in touch with the reality that confronts constituents,” Mr. Bush told the youth.

“In contrast to thinking, well in the past, that the Speaker can’t speak at all, there is many a dispensation that brings the imperative of a Speaker in today’s world speaking for or against a matter that affects his constituents,” he commented.

The Speaker encouraged the young people to get involved in their communities to put forth their ideas for the welfare and harmony of all community members.

He advised them to have patience, nurture a loving spirit and care for one another in their school which would shift over into the wider community where they lived. “However, in all this distraction of your being, ensure that you go to school and pay attention to your school work, for nothing in today’s world beats a relevant education,” he underscored.

The Speaker added, “If you have ideas about becoming a Member of Parliament, most of all you must be willing to serve and appreciate and genuinely care for people. That will be your best tool in getting the people to support you, when they see and feel that they can put their trust in you.”