On Wednesday (21) Cayman Islands Premier, Hon. McKeeva Bush, announced in the Legislative Assembly (LA), there would be three additional Members (MLA).

In accordance with the Boundary Commission’s recommendation, based on population figures, Bush said the district of George Town would increase to six seats and Bodden Town to four.

However, Bush said he did not believe 18 was the best number and warned it could be difficult for the next group of elected members to form a government if there are nine on each side. This could result in gridlock in getting legislation passed with a real risk of an elected parliament not being able to form a government.

“I hope my fears and concerns will never become reality, but I worry about it with an even number,” he told the LA. He also called on the house to educate their constituents as to the additional seats and asked for a smooth passage to the motion as the election law had to be amended with the new legislation. The Governor, HE Duncan Taylor, must issue the election writs on 12 December.

The premier had not accepted the recommendations to alter the George Town and Bodden Town boundaries to accommodate the growing numbers in Bodden Town. It would be too much of a change for the people who had voted for decades in George Town to have to vote in Bodden Town, he claimed.

Opposition leader, Hon. Alden McLaughlin, said the premier had chosen the worst scenario claiming it was wrong in principle for George Town to have six votes and East End and North Side one. People with a George Town postal code had six times the power to influence the make-up of government.

McLaughlin was not worried about there being a gridlock as the Speaker of the House has a casting vote to retain the status quo on a deadlock vote. But forming a government would require compromise if there was an even return for both sides. Failing that the people would have to vote again. Many parliaments around the world have even numbers, he added.

“We did for 20 years and there was never a situation where the House was paralysed,” he argued. “The additional seats are a result for the need for a finance minister and to spread the workload of the Cabinet.” He thought that to get two ministers and retain parliamentary balance, it would require at least one more backbench seat.

The opposition leader said he would support the motion as there was little choice given the lateness of the order.

Winding up the debate Bush launched into another of his scathing attacks on McLaughlin accusing him of not really wanting one man, one vote. He accused him of making comments during the constitutional talks, that implied he did not want it even though they had not been recorded in the transcripts. He also denied he had tried to get an extra seat for West Bay boasting he could have got it if government had wanted it as he had the majority.