The defining legend of King Solomon was his great wisdom. He was wise and his gift of wisdom came from God because he asked for it. This was back in the years 971 – 931 BCE and it was in Israel. His father was David.

Move now to the present time and to the Cayman Islands. We have our own Solomon – first name Ellio. His father is the well respected gentleman Timothy Solomon. Ellio has not risen to King status but he behaves like he is a prince so I will give him that status.

I first met Ellio at The Harquail Theatre many years ago in the musical “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat”. He played Joseph and I played his father, Jacob. Instead of me giving Joseph fatherly advice Joseph told me my singing performance at the dress rehearsal was “awful”. He was right. I strove hard to do better.

Ellio joined Government as technical support and procurement manager, after degree level studies in electronic engineering, business administration, financial management and labour economics. He chaired the infrastructure committee that drafted legislation to improve telecom pricing and services through competition.  In 2001, he launched CayPolitics.com, “an online news and political website to educate the public and provide a forum to discuss important issues.”

He came to prominence soon after that when he joined the Rooster 101 radio talk show “Cayman Crosstalk” as a co-host, first with Barrie Quappe and then with the current host, Austin Harris. When Austin took over it soon became clear that Ellio was using the show as a platform to launch his political ambitions as he continually made derogative comments about the ruling PPM Government under the leadership of Kurt Tibbetts.

It was, therefore, no surprise when he announced he was running in the 2005 Elections as a member of the UDP. He campaigned for open government and letting the people have a voice. He was elected as George Town’s fourth MLA.

Since then we have had Ellio bursting uninvited into the Rooster studios and confronting MLA and now leader of the opposition, Alden McLaughlin over Alden’s remark that he had been told one of the owners of Tom Jones International was Mr. Solomon’s brother-in-law. Despite Alden apologising more than once on air to Ellio saying he was misinformed, Ellio would not accept it. After the show, Rooster assured McLaughlin that Solomon’s outburst was “uncalled for, out of order and totally unnecessary”.

There have been minor incidents since then including last October when Ellio claimed Alden assaulted him.
“I am not going to get into too many details, but I will say as a matter of public record that yesterday in the afternoon I was assaulted by the Honourable Alden McLaughlin and I intend to do what I believe any normal citizen would do under the circumstance and that is to seek to file those complaints and have charges brought against him,” he said.

Premier McKeeva Bush has defended Ellio on a number of occasions and it would seem he is very much in favour and for a backbencher he has been given a number of powerful duties including now leading the port negotiations with China Harbour. He has made a number of carefully worded speeches concerning the matter giving assurances that local labour will be employed and Cayman’s George Town shop owners will be protected. He sounded and looked very much ‘up to the job’.

I was somewhat amazed when last week I learnt Ellio had forsaken his stance on free speech, quizzing the police commissioner, David Baines, about the legality of picketers at the government-hosted UDP Bodden Town meeting last Thursday. He implied that the “large number of people shouting” and waving placards at the political meeting was wrong and they should have had police permission to shout. He actually asked if the RCIPS had “a policy to allow these kinds of demonstrations at public meetings”, even when there were significant numbers. “It is a worrying development,” Solomon said about the picketers, who, he said, were deliberately trying to drown out the speakers.

Commissioner Baines said that provided there was no breach of the peace, people had a lawful right to express their opposition to something. “We are only concerned with public order and that does not interfere with the right of people to express themselves,” Baines said.
So what has happened to the prince? Is his version of Solomon’s wisdom, “Free speech and demonstrations is only acceptable when I agree with it?”