Editorial: Independence scaremongering - Cayman Net News

[Anguillan newsboy]

Emphasising once again that the United Democratic Party (UDP) has seemingly abandoned its opposition to the planned referendum on constitutional reform in May, the Leader of the Opposition, Hon McKeeva Bush, was in Cayman Brac at the weekend urging the electorate to participate in the referendum but to vote against the proposed changes.
Sister Islands MLA, Juliana O’Connor-Connolly, also jumped on the bandwagon, along with the rest of her UDP colleagues, by trying to persuade voters that a vote in favour of the constitutional proposals would be a vote in favour of independence.
This, of course, is complete and utter nonsense and should be dismissed as specious political posturing which, if successful, will once again deny all the people of the Cayman Islands -- and this includes those of the Sister Islands -- of the opportunity for meaningful constitutional advancement.
We have said on a number of occasions that the constitutional reform initiative should not become a political football and indeed Mr Bush himself said exactly the same thing not even four years ago.
However, now that it suits his own purpose, he is apparently determined to go against his own advice, and the rest of the UDP are dutifully trotting along behind him, determined to prevent the people of the Cayman Islands achieving even a small degree of greater self-government, for their own political ends.
We have long advocated constitutional reform that would allow Caymanians a greater say in their own affairs and an improved system of democracy.
Constitutional reform in and of itself does not mean that we have to move to independence, now or ever; and any suggestion to the contrary needs to be looked at very carefully in the context of who is suggesting it, their political ambitions, and their integrity and probity to date.
The British Virgin Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands both achieved significant constitutional advancement within the last year or two and neither territory has embraced the notion of independence.
Anguilla and the Falkland Islands are currently embarking on similar constitutional reform initiatives as that underway in the Cayman Islands and, again, neither territory is contemplating independence.
Yes, there may be some details of the government’s proposals for constitutional reform here in the Cayman Islands that need some fine tuning, but that is the whole point of holding district meetings, to allow Caymanians to make their views known in order to arrive at a consensus so that the final proposals may be drafted and put to a vote at the planned referendum.
There may also be a failure on the part of the administration to educate and inform the Cayman public as to the benefits and implications of the specific proposals, but it is not too late for any such shortcoming to be addressed.
However, unless it is addressed quickly and fully, the UDP will no doubt continue to take advantage of any continued failure in this respect.
Regrettably, Mr Bush, Ms O’Connor-Connolly and the rest of the UDP crew will continue their attempt to play on the uninformed and misinformed fears of the electorate in their obvious attempt to keep the Cayman Islands as a colonial backwater, while the rest of the world -- including our Sister Overseas Territories of Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, and Anguilla -- who are not successful as we are, move on.
We might be willing to treat the UDP tactics with more respect and seriousness if they were accompanied by any kind of cogent argument supporting their position. Ms O’Connor-Connolly has issued a challenge to anyone who cares to debate the Constitution with her, but realistically what is she seeking to defend other than simple scare tactics, designed to whip up popular but uninformed sentiment for purely political ends?
Ms O’Connor-Connolly, along with other supporters of the Opposition’s position, are welcome to set out their reasoned arguments supporting their positions in a commentary and letters to the editor, which will be duly published in Cayman Net News, and we will be more than happy to debate the issues in print for everyone to read.
After all, this current debate surrounding the Constitutional Modernisation Initiative is about our democratic right to choose, not to be force-fed with fear.