Just last week, we had elections here. No, I am not going to debate candidates or political views.
I thought I would speak about how proud I am of this little nation with its democratic process. All too often, we hear of countries (big and small) and how the elections are rigged, unfair, etc. Well I have to say that the Cayman Islands seem to have this process figured out. There was even an independent group of observers who came to the island from the UK and who gave Cayman 9/10 as an overall rating for the elections. In the news media, the opposition and the defeated ; not one mention of funny business. Impressive.
Here is something I found interesting. On the day of the elections, there is to be no advertising by parties and candidates. That also means no elections signs. So to comply, the candidates need to either take their signs down or cover them up the night before the election. Here are are few samples.
Even the small signs needed to be covered up!
Even candidate Web sites were taken down for election day.
The neat thing is that 2-3 days after the elections all the road side signs were gone. I know in Canada, election signs linger around forever after the big day and quickly become an eyesore.
Here is the headquarters of the party that just won the election. This is when you realize you are in a really small place.
Some other interesting things I noted.
– Alcohol sales were banned for the whole day. I guess they don’t want anyone impaired to vote or having their views distorted 🙂
– We got a public holiday! YAY. Even those who cannot vote (expats) got the day off. No complaints here.
On a final note, I will mention that my former boss, Roy McTaggart (he retired a few months ago) was elected as a member of parliament. I find it awesome that business people with integrity and who have a proven track record in the business world want to run for office and make a difference. Go Roy!