With a seemingly wave of public discontent with the past United Democratic Party (UDP) Government but claiming the mess our country is in is mainly due to the party system and not its leadership, the Coalition for Cayman (C4C) candidates seem to all be refusing to say they would support the other party, The Progressives (PPM), if they have to make a choice to form a government.

With a totally pointless statement but typical of the C4C candidates, Mervin Smith, who is running for a seat in West Bay on the Coalition for Cayman ticket, when asked who he would support – the UDP or the Progressives – if neither got a majority as is highly likely, he said:

“The electorate will decide who will serve in the House.  If elected I will maintain my independent status while working with persons I believe are the best representatives to lead this country.”

With the C4C only having two endorsed candidates in the West Bay District, their other is Tara Rivers, it has been customary for the true independents in the “good old days when independents were elected to the Legislative Assembly” for them to advise voters who they would prefer to see elected along with them in their district.

As Smith had previously voiced his opposition to the UDP on a number of occasions, I can only assume he has been instructed by the faceless people behind the C4C to say nothing on this subject.

This provides more weight to Alden McLaughlin, the Progressives leader, who has preached at great length that a vote for the C4C is a vote for the UDP.

I have to 100% agree with him.

Not only does the C4C presence potentially split the mix more to the detriment of the Progressives than the UDP, the fact they are not now acting as the “good old days” independents they have been championing, by endorsing other candidates, the electorate is even more confused and worried by giving them a vote.

I have never been 100% fooled into believing it was the political parties that caused Cayman’s woes but is was more by the rule of its leader. A Cabinet is not a cabinet of one. A party has a back bench. There is no rule that says one must obey its leader 100% ALL of the time. However, that is the message that is being given out by the C4C and, unfortunately, they have been 100% right with the way the UDP has been run over the last four years.

McKeeva Bush has ruled the UDP with the premise “it is my bat and ball and if you don’t let me win I take my bat and ball with me and no one plays”.

If the Progressives would shout that message out saying their party is NOT a party of one, they might stand a better chance of winning than opting to bash churches no matter if they think they haven’t. I can assure them, to most of the general public, they have.

However, luck is with them, because the C4C have hedged their bets. We don’t know what side of the hedge they are on.