MLA Ezzard Miller responds to Cayman News Service’s inquiry on the reports of a matter concerning the Speaker over the weekend:

I am disappointed and saddened by the events reported in the media over the weekend and by the subsequent statement by the Speaker, the Hon. McKeeva Bush.

While the matter is under investigation and we must avoid a rush to judgement, the circumstances related in the Speaker’s apology itself, along with media accounts of this and at least one other similar serious incident, demonstrate an unacceptable pattern of behavior.

Raising even greater disquiet, the apology details serious medical concerns, requiring “long-term professional help” and identifying the need to “cease any use of alcohol.”

I therefore call on the Minister of Health and the Unity Government to ensure the Speaker gets the rehabilitative treatment he says he needs, in the most suitable institution available.

This is a matter of urgency, particularly as the medical conditions detailed in the apology do raise questions about the Speaker’s physical and mental ability to continue to serve in his present national position.

In conjunction with the fears about the Speaker’s capacity to continue to function in his self-described current physical and mental states, there are the inevitable implications for his ability to sustain the confidence, trust and respect essential to his role at the apex of government.

Further, when such unfortunate sets of circumstances beset a holder of a position at such austere and august levels as head of the legislative branch of the Cayman Islands Government, placing him third in the order of precedence after the Governor, serious concerns are inescapable about continuing reputational damage to the Cayman Islands locally and internationally.

I consequently suggest that it is in the best interest of both Mr. Bush and the people of the Cayman Islands that Mr. Bush resigns from the role of Speaker forthwith or that the necessary action be taken to remove him from office.

For more on this story go to: https://caymannewsservice.com/2020/02/ezzard-mac-mental-health-issues/