Recently, Bermudians opposed to Premier Dr. Ewart Brown's handling of the Uighur situation and his leadership of the Island have been encouraged to sign a petition to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown asking him to remove his namesake.

This is an utterly foolish approach that threatens to set the Island back decades.

Those who have signed already should disavow their signatures while those considering signing should reject the notion.

As a self-governing British Overseas Territory, Bermudians have it within their own powers to change governments and leaders, and they have the means to do it, if that is their wish.

Similarly, those who wish Dr. Brown to remain as Premier have the same tools at their disposal.

What are those tools?

They can force change at the ballot box in a general election by voting for the party of their choice.

They can lobby MPs and political parties to express their dissatisfaction – or satisfaction – with the current direction of the Island.

They can, if they wish, join a political party and help to dislodge the current leadership an replace it with something more to their liking.

They can, as so many have done, write letters and e-mails to the media, call radio talk shows and so forth to express their unhappiness, if that is what they are.

They can, as so many have done, hold peaceful demonstrations and protests.

All of these are legitimate political tools. They will not bring about change overnight, because politics rarely works that way.

What is not right, and what will be ultimately self-defeating, is to appeal to another power – absent compelling evidence of wrongdoing, as appears to have been the case in the Turks and Caicos Islands – to bring about a change, not in government, but in leadership.

Just because people do not like what is going on, and are especially concerned about breaches in the Constitution and good governance, does not justify throwing out the rest of the Constitution and the rules by which Bermudians govern themselves. That makes no sense at all.