The politics of the Cayman Islands takes place within a framework of
parliamentary democracy
A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...
, within the confines of the
Government of the Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands is a parliamentary representative democratic dependency. As a British Overseas Territories, Charles III is the head of state. The Premier of the Cayman Islands is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the ...
.
Constitutional Modernisation
Constitutional Modernisation has come to the forefront of politics recently with the collapse of the now defunct
Euro Bank Corporation in 2003. The prosecution in the trial was forced to reveal that the
British Government had planted
moles Moles can refer to:
* Moles de Xert, a mountain range in the Baix Maestrat comarca, Valencian Community, Spain
* The Moles (Australian band)
*The Moles, alter ego of Scottish band Simon Dupree and the Big Sound
People
*Abraham Moles, French engin ...
(and used wire taps) throughout the banking industry using
MI6
The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
, with the consent of the
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
. This caused the trial's collapse, and subsequent release of those charged with wrongdoing. Along with this, the only mole that was known at the time was allowed to leave the country, never to answer for what he (or the United Kingdom) was doing. This infuriated the elected members of the Legislative Assembly as they maintained that the Governor and the United Kingdom had put into question the Cayman Islands' reputation as a tightly regulated offshore jurisdiction. Some saw this as the United Kingdom meddling in the territory's affairs to benefit itself (and the EU), at the expense of the islands' economy.
Constitutional talks however went on hold following
Hurricane Ivan
Hurricane Ivan was a large, long-lived, Cape Verde hurricane that caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and United States. The cyclone was the ninth named storm, the sixth hurricane and the fourth major hurricane of the active 2004 Atlant ...
in 2004. Subsequently, in May 2005 the ruling UDP was ousted by the PPM, which restarted the process of constitutional modernisation. The new constitution took effect on 6 November 2009.
[http://www.constitution.gov.ky/portal/pls/portal/docs/1/8220057.PDF, p.2]
See also
*
Elections in the Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands elect a legislature on the territorial level. The Parliament has 21 members, 19 elected members for a four-year term in 19 single member constituencies elected by first past the post and 2 members ''ex officio''.
In the 2000 e ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Politics of the Cayman Islands