Issued by Hon. Rolston Anglin

A pleasant good afternoon to all residents of our fair Cayman Islands.  At the meeting of the Business Committee at the Legislative Assembly this morning May 7^th it was agreed that when the House meets on Wednesday May 9^th it would consider Government Motion No. 8/2012.

In the interest of openness and transparency the Honourable Premier who is Chairman of the Business Committee took the opportunity to advise all members of the Committee, which includes the Honourable Leader of the Opposition and the Elected Member for East End, that the Government intended to adjourn the House on Wednesday once the debate on Government Motion No.8/2012 had been completed.  We would subsequently call a Special Meeting of the Legislative Assembly pursuant to Standing Order Number 9 in order to deal with the Referendum (Single Member Constituencies) Bill, 2012.

In Summary we will debate Government Motion No. 8/2012 on Wednesday May 9^th as previously communicated to all Members of the Legislative Assembly.  At the end of the debate on Wednesday May 9^th the Honourable Premier will write to the Honourable Speaker and request a Special Meeting pursuant to Standing Order Number 9. It is our intention to hold the Special Meeting on Thursday May 10^th.  At this said Meeting we intend to consider the Referendum (Single Member Constituencies) Bill, 2012. This will avoid any doubt as to whether the Bill is compliant with Section 77 of the Constitution, which requires bills to be published 21 days before the commencement of the meeting of the Legislative Assembly at which it is intended to be introduced.

The Government went to great lengths to communicate this thoroughly, so that all members of the House and general public are clear in advance of Wednesday as to its intentions.

We hope that all Members of the House and general public appreciate the effort we are making to communicate our intentions in advance.

My fellow Caymanians let us be very clear; we had other options on how we dealt with the Opposition Members of the House.  We could have waited until the conclusion of the debate of Government Motion No. 8/2012 on Wednesday May 9^th , adjourned the House and then wrote to the Honourable Speaker and requested a Special Meeting in accordance with Standing Order Number 9.

The Honourable Premier did not think that giving such short notice would have been the right thing to do; hence he took the decision to inform the Opposition Members of the Business Committee.

The Honourable Premier and the Government continue to operate in an open and transparent manner.  Despite this the Opposition still found room to complain and walked out  of the Business Committee abruptly and went straight to the media with their one sided version of events.

We cannot believe how immature the Leader of the Opposition and his colleagues behave!  When we go to extra-ordinary lengths to share our legislative strategy with them they still try to cause strife and division in our country.

My fellow Caymanians the Government continue to be fair to all Members of the House.

We look forward to the debate and passage of Government Motion No. 8/2012 and the Referendum (Single Member Constituencies) Bill, 2012.  This is required in order for this referendum to be held on a matter of national importance, One Person, One Vote

What cannot be lost in all of this is that the Government is facilitating our people having the ultimate say through their ballot.  Despite this the Opposition still opposes for opposition’s sake.

It was indeed the Opposition who started a petition to cause a People Initiated Referendum and the Government subsequently agreed to hold a referendum and end the political rancor and division they were causing.  Now it would seem as though they are doing everything in their power to not have the Bill passed and the referendum held!

We will continue to do the people’s business in a fair and judicious manner.

May God bless you and your families and these Cayman Islands.