(CMR) Members of the Official Opposition walked out of the Legislative Assembly today in protest leaving just George Town Central MLA, Kenneth Bryan, for the remainder of the afternoon session.
CMR understands from this morning that the member for North Side, Ezzard Miller and the others fully intended to call a vote of no confidence against the Speaker of the House, Mckeeva Bush.
During the LA proceedings Miller and Opposition Leader, Arden McLean submitted a motion of no confidence but newly elected Deputy Speaker f the House, Barbara Conolly rejected the motion claiming sub judice. However, the motion made no mention of his criminal charges.
The opposition received notification calling today's meeting and was signed by the speaker who is supposed to be on a leave of absence.
In a statement issued late in the afternoon they shared that:
“In defense of Section 71 of the Cayman Islands Constitution Order 2009 and the Standing Orders of the Legislative Assembly, members of the Official Opposition today walked out of the Legislative Assembly meeting in protest of the Unity Government using their majority to prevent the Oppositions rights to raise motions and questions.”
They shared that they were notified of today's meeting but have not been given the chance to submit private members' business which is in direct contravention of their rights. The premier had shared yesterday that the focus of today's legislative meeting was to discuss amendments aimed at getting them off of the blacklist. They are also preparing for the upcoming Caribbean Financial Action Taskforce inspection.
The Opposition press statement made no mention of the motion regarding Bush but instead noted:
“in the process of filing several motions and questions on issues that matter to every resident in this island and will impact their quality of life. The impact of the curfew on smaller businesses; the disparity in retirement age between the private sector and the Civil Service; delay in accessing pensions and the National Pension Report which is 10 years overdue; and the lack of action by Ofreg at a time when most people will be getting their largest bill ever from CUC, despite oil prices being at its lowest, are some of the issues that we needed to urgently discuss.”
They believe the most recent actions of the government in the Legislative Assembly directly run afoul of “constitutional democracy and it's deeply regrettably”
Ezzard Miller, who is no longer a member of the official opposition left shortly after the Official Opposition members; leaving behind Kenneth Bryan, the only remaining backbench member.
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