UBP rebels deliver a stark ultimatum
By Tim Smith
Three United Bermuda Party MPs and a Senator are to quit and form their own party unless leader Kim Swan resigns and four veteran MPs pledge to retire within months.
MPs Shawn Crockwell, Donte Hunt and Mark Pettingill and Senator Michael Fahy say they are so frustrated by the party's refusal to reform they will walk out before the next parliamentary session opens in November — unless Mr. Swan takes drastic action.
They are calling for the leader to step down because of his failure to make the UBP a viable Opposition since losing its third consecutive General Election in 2007 — losing ground on the Progressive Labour Party despite widespread public anger with Premier Ewart Brown and PLP MPs continuously speaking out against him.
And they want four of the UBP's older faces — seen by many to represent the legacy which condemned the party to repeated election defeats — to promise to make way for fresh blood, forcing a succession of by-elections in the near future.
They further insist that the party changes its name, to take it away from the brand which has failed and been dragged through the mud by its critics in recent years.
Mr. Swan is understood to have agreed to quit himself by December, and attempted to bargain by offering to sacrifice two veterans by January. But the rebels say they will not budge on their demand.
Mr. Crockwell, Mr. Hunt and Mr. Pettingill, who have already stopped attending caucus, would sit as independents until Christmas, before launching their new party along with Sen. Fahy in the New Year: an "Obama-like movement" with a manifesto of equal opportunity, social justice, security and fiscal conservatism.
They say they have funding pledges from potential donors, while well-known members of the community, including at least one former PLP politician, have indicated they will join.
The group say they hope to pick up some seats at the next General Election, before emerging as the ruling party at the following election.
They believe a new party not tainted with the "white" image of the UBP would not be so easily attacked by the PLP — and hope it will ultimately lead to a less divided Bermuda.
Mr. Crockwell told The Royal Gazette: "The climate now is so ripe. Many people are yearning for something new and fresh.
"I believe it is time that we have a new political party that can focus on the needs of Bermuda and Bermudians and take the Island to where it needs to be: a country where everybody has an opportunity to prosper, a safe and secure place and the destination of choice for both business and tourism."
Mr. Crockwell said he has seen a "great deal of apathy" from the public, which has showed its indifference to the two existing political parties.
Last night Mr. Swan said he could not comment on the specifics of The Royal Gazette's report because it was "about possibilities not facts" but added: "I can say that the months leading to our annual general meeting in December will have their fair share of internal manoeuverings as we set the stage for real change in the party.
"All of us agree on the need for change but not yet on the details of change. Reaching agreement on change and then implementing change will continue to be a dynamic process that will not always be peaches and cream. That is the nature of the beast, but we will get there. Of that I am sure."
He added that the months ahead would be challenging but said he would continue to serve the UBP and the people of Bermuda to the best of his ability.
Third parties have failed in the past, notably Khalid Wasi's All Bermuda Congress which formed before the last election but didn't field any candidates, as well as the National Liberal Party in the 1980s and Bermuda Democratic Party in the 1960s.
However, Mr. Crockwell said: "I would rather fail trying this than where we are and see the Country stay the way it is now."
Numerous highly tense UBP meetings have taken place behind closed doors since the last election, with parliamentarians initially said to be split, with half desperate for reform and half determined to keep the party the way it is.
The three rebels were joined in the reform camp by Wayne Furbert and Darius Tucker, who both quit and now sit as independents. Many of the others are older faces who have been with the party for many years.
Immediately after the election, reformers' calls for a rebranding including a name change were rejected, while they became further disillusioned as the party failed to make any ground on the PLP and Mr. Swan's favourability dropped to a level scarcely better than the record-breaking low achieved by the Premier.
They say the final straw was Mr. Swan's handling of the motion of no confidence against Dr. Brown's Government following the Uighurs affair, which backfired as Mr. Pettingill and Mr. Tucker refused to back it despite being on a three line whip, the former suspended and the latter quitting the party.
That was followed by last month's Pembroke East Central by-election, at which UBP candidate Keith Young won just 44 votes as supporters of both sides stayed at home to ensure the lowest by-election turnout on record.
Mr. Swan could not be reached last night.
