It was with much disappointment to hear Cayman Islands Premier, Alden McLaughlin, say on local television that it was unlikely the electoral reform he had promised in his party’s (Progressives/PPM) manifesto and campaigned heavily on would take place before the next election in 2017.

It was with dismay when I heard his reason. He said although the PPM were in favour of the electoral reform – One Man One Vote (OMOV) they did not obtain a majority and had to go outside the party to form a government. He said there were members within the government that did not support the electoral reform and he therefore couldn’t risk putting it forward and there were many more pressing issues.

My dismay was at the premier’s clear implication it was the members of the C4C alliance that were the cause of the problem when I knew and know that is not true,

The one person within the PPM ruling party that is against the electoral reform in the shape of OMOV is the premier himself. For him to imply otherwise fills me with dismay. I will now worry at anything he says and especially his promises.

The disarray from his television announcement within his party, the very thing he said he wanted to avoid, has instantly occurred.

Last Monday his C4C colleagues made it clear it was not them who were against the OMOV electoral reform. Tara Rivers, Roy McTaggart and Winston Connolly, issued a joint statement this week saying they supported OMOV and were looking forward to seeing electoral reform before the end of this term.

Now government backbencher, Alva Suckoo, has announced his intention to bring the OMOV proposal to the Legislative Assembly at the earliest opportunity.

Speaking to CNS he said:

“I am disappointed that the electoral reform that so many of us campaigned for and promised is now becoming a political football,” Suckoo told CNS Tuesday evening as he announced his intention to bring the proposal to the Legislative Assembly at the earliest opportunity.

“I campaigned heavily for the change and I believe that my eventual election in Bodden Town was assisted by my stand for equality. Some will say that this is not a priority for the country and we need to get on with more important initiatives, and while I agree that there is much to be done, I also maintain that voter equality is a major priority.”

I have written before on this subject, strongly urging the premier to reconsider his personal objection to it as he could be committing political suicide.

Because of what happened during the last elected government’s (UDP) tenure with then premier, McKeeva Bush, doing everything he could possibly personally do to stop the OMOV, even with a large majority of the public who voted for it in a referendum, those persons voted for the PPM party because they PROMISED it was one of their PRIORITIES to bring the electoral reform in as OMOV!!

Many members of McLaughlin’s own cabinet, and members of the PPM were at the helm of the OMOV campaign.

The mighty Chamber of Commerce, especially its President, Johann Moxam, who cannot be described as a ‘good’ friend of the premier’s has also voiced his disgust.

“The premier stated that the PPM would restore trust and confidence in the government and the Cayman Islands as a whole,” he said, “and pledged to be open and accountable. Fulfilling manifesto promises is the bedrock for maintaining credibility and the confidence of all stakeholders. I would encourage the premier to lead his party to fulfill the promise to introduce single member constituencies and implementation of one man, one vote prior to the 2017 election … otherwise, their manifesto becomes an empty shell and merely words printed on paper that have no meaning.”

The wily opposition leader, McKeeva Bush, has pounced like a wild cat as I knew he would.

Now using the media house he once hated and vehemently attacked he told CNS the premier’s announcement that the OMOV electoral reform won’t be pursued was “all the more hypocritical because of the amount of energy he (McLaughlin) gave to the idea when the UDP held the reins of government”.

“All my energies were focused on trying to get our country on sounder footing with projects that were good, getting people employed and bigger and sustainable reserves,” Bush said. “But Alden’s energies were on OMOV, electoral reform and derailing everything that the UDP proposed. Duncan Taylor and him joined together to push us deeper and deeper into an abyss, with undemocratic antics, of which they succeeded.”

You have to applaud the opposition leader. He is wounded, licked his cuts, and is now waiting at every chance he can to attack.

McLaughlin has given him a huge opportunity and Bush has welcomed it with glee.

When McLaughlin showed his first true colours on the OMOV and voted against East End MLA Arden McLean’s private motion OMOV bill, Bush said in more than 20 years in politics he had never seen such a turnaround as that taken by the premier when he stood up to reveal the change of heart on electoral reform.

The one sure thing in all this is we are the voters. We vote people in and we vote people out. Even without OMOV. And we vote against promises that are empty.

We especially do it when we have disappointment, dismay and there is disarray within the party we have previously supported.