Dear Sir,

The issue of caustic partisan political debate in Bermuda and the value of the Westminster system of democracy needs to be seen in light of the American Republic model where legitimacy comes from their constitutional “we the people” as opposed to the Bermuda Parliament with its legitimacy and constitution originating from the Parliamentary Monarchy, “the Crown”.

Political party frictions and oppositions are present in the American system and other democratic systems which allow for the multiple party states as differenced from the one party systems of the past Soviet communist and Eastern European democratic one party states.

In modern political history it has been the American and British model of democracy requiring multiple political parties and independents with their own voices at the political table to “fight” for their specific views, and if elected, to control the state administration apparatus (civil service) where they live. That’s called democratic freedom of speech and western democracy.

In Bermuda we enjoy democratic freedom where, in recent history over the last 50 years, we adopted a system where most people voted for “their party” and not so much the individual.

This can be seen by the lack of any elected independent Members of Parliament.

Mr Editor, may I suggest to the critics of the Parliamentary system in Bermuda that the caustic uncooperative actions we see today are reflections of failed individual relationships and not the Westminster Parliamentary institution.

MICHAEL MARKHAM