of Bermuda is not an anti-Bermudian act. The constitution says what it says.

The Constitution cannot by its nature be anti-Bermudian. It is today the foundation of Bermuda and to defy it is not acceptable.

The fact is that Dr. Ewart Brown chose of his own free will and for his own reasons to swear allegiance to a foreign power and become a United States citizen at a time when he was basically making his living in the United States. He must have seen some advantage in becoming a US citizen or he would not have taken the step. No one makes that kind of decision lightly and especially not an educated man.

When you swear allegiance to the United States you swear to give up other countries. The beginning of the Oath of Allegiance Dr. Brown swore was: "I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of Americas against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same...'' Dr. Brown thus swore to give up Bermuda and to give up the Queen.

Before he could take a seat in the House of Assembly he had to swear or affirm to "be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, her Heirs and Successors, according to law''. It may well be that when Dr. Brown took his oath of office as a Bermudian Member of Parliament he violated his US citizenship oath. That is a matter for US authorities.

Alex Scott who introduced the "Dr. Brown Motion'' would have Bermudians think that the Constitution is anti-Bermudian if it can preclude from the Legislature someone who was born in Bermuda. However he has said himself publicly on other occasions that Status Bermudians who retain their original citizenship should have to choose. Yet, he does not apply that thinking to Dr.

Brown. He wants Dr. Brown to be both a citizen of Bermuda and the United States. It is interesting to note that Mr. Scott is willing to make an accommodation and to tamper with the Constitution when it suits a fellow PLP MP. It is not hard to see that if Dr. Brown, or anyone else, had run under the same circumstances for the UBP, Mr. Scott would be demanding retribution.

It is argued that Dr. Brown was born in Bermuda and is precluded by the Constitution of Bermuda from serving in the Legislature, but that people who receive Status, having been born elsewhere, can be elected to the House of Assembly or appointed to the Senate. That is true. However those people wanted to be Bermudian. Dr. Brown chose to become a citizen of the United States.

The Constitution is clearly written to guard Bermuda and Bermudians against people who seek public office in Bermuda but have a basic loyalty to another country. In other words, it is designed to protect Bermuda from undue foreign influence and that is a fairly standard constitutional rule and not unique to Bermuda.

It is alarming to think that no one did anything to stop Dr. Brown from violating the Constitution when he ran for office. Where were the Attorney General and the law officers of the Crown? Where was the Parliamentary Registrar? Where was the UBP Central Office? For that matter, where were the officials of the PLP that they were willing to put forward a candidate in violation of the Constitution? We believe a number of people were aware of the violation and did nothing. This newspaper was unaware or we would have done our duty to make the public aware.