(CNS): The government is in discussions with the Miss Cayman Islands Universe committee about pulling out of the franchise it holds for the beauty pageant and finding a supporter in the private sector, as is the case with the Miss World contest. The committee has now stripped Tiffany Conolly of the crown following her criminal conviction last week for assault.

However, Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan blamed the control the global organisation has over franchisees for limiting his ministry’s ability to address the situation surrounding Conolly, which was a complete embarrassment for the committee and the tourism ministry.

Over the last year, they have blamed each other for the debacle whereby Conolly was allowed to compete in the contest, despite the existing charges against her, and then go on to win. The embarrassment was compounded this weekend when the story about her conviction on six counts, including assaulting a police officer, was picked up by the Associated Press international news wire service and then spread around the world’s online news media.

Speaking at a press conference Monday, Bryan said that under the conditions of the franchise, the Cayman Islands Government has very limited authority to make decisions independently of the Miss Universe organisation, which was revealed as a result of the situation surrounding Conolly. Now the pageant organisation is planning more changes to the conditions of the franchise, which is currently up for renewal, but these have not all been outlined. Bryan said the CIG was concerned about the nature of those changes, given that it would be obliged to accept them if it signs up again.

The government has contacted the global organisation about its concerns and it is still waiting for Miss Universe to respond. But given the lessons learned from this situation, the pending changes and the uncertainties, Bryan questioned whether the ministry should continue with the franchise. He said it might be better if it is taken over by the private sector, but he said he was going to discuss the issue with Cabinet.

“There is no question that this has been a very difficult situation for all concerned,” Bryan said, adding that having to ask permission from the Miss Universe organisation over the situation with Conolly had created difficulties for the CIG. “We couldn’t make decisions on behalf of the country over what we wanted to do because the franchise agreement obligated us to ask them first and they said we couldn’t do anything,” he said.

With that in mind and potential changes that have not been outlined and the need now to bid on the franchise in a matter of weeks, Bryan said that even though the CIG had been attached to the franchise for many years, it might be time to pull out and allow a more appropriate private sector franchisee.

“I know the public has been really annoyed,” he said about the difficult situation relating to Conolly. “I wasn’t able to comment on it because of the legality and that is one of the primary things I am concerned about,” he said. Bryan pointed to what he called the “stronghold” of the organisation that had prevented the ministry here from making a call based on the best interests of brand Cayman.

The current crown will now pass to Chloe Powery-Doxey, who competed at the pageant in New Orleans last month as the first runner-up and not as Miss Cayman. It is still not clear if any of the prizes that Conolly received as title holder will be revoked and given to Powery-Doxey.

Meanwhile, Conolly is awaiting sentencing on the assault conviction which is scheduled for May while the court awaits a social inquiry report.