Dear Sir,

Happy new year, everyone. 2024 brings another opportunity for a fresh start for many of us, which will include resolutions and promises to accomplish over the next 12 months. Some will persevere and achieve their goals, and others — despite their good intentions — will fall back into their old ways.

There is some similarity in the political world with the way election cycles work. Every four to five years, governments make promises that are sometimes kept, sometimes not. Here in Bermuda we have seen this cycle play out over the past 50 or more years.

The political world is an interesting one when it comes to the party system of governance. When you are not in the driver’s seat, you are effectively a driving instructor sitting in the back seat and will observe the driver as they are put through the test. Poor signalling, lack of attention, not listening, failing to stop, going too fast ... these are all “calls” which may be heard from the one who apparently knows how to drive the car and can see when a driver is making a mistake. No matter the government, it is the same with every opposition because that is their job. So what happens when the back-seat driver gets to drive the car? It goes something like this:

In 2012, after 14 years of a Progressive Labour Party government, the One Bermuda Alliance took control of Bermuda’s economic engine. During its 4½ years of governance, the PLP back-seat drivers regularly accused the OBA of poor driving habits, claiming a litany of “infractions” and once it took control of the car, the PLP promised a new form of governance that would benefit the people, including a more participatory democracy with rigorous governmental oversight to include campaign-finance reform.

In the run-up to that 2017 election, the Opposition leader, David Burt, held a press conference in which he said: “People may ask why the PLP would invite additional scrutiny of their government after the next election, as it is bound to cause embarrassment. The reason is simple — because better scrutiny and better oversight will lead to better results and outcomes for the people of Bermuda.”

What can be wrong with that? Nothing, because any government promising more accountability and transparency is always a win for the people. Mr Burt outlined a raft of impressive good-governance initiatives, a sample of which included the following:

• All petitions from the people obtaining a critical number of signatures would have to be brought before the legislature or given a referendum

• An independent commission on debates which would designate crucial issues for discussion by public forum; Mr Burt told us that our public discourse did not do enough to enlighten voters about the issues and we must do better. This would also include debates before general elections

• Anti-corruption legislation would be enacted to give the Auditor-General the power to “follow the money” with government contracts, and void any contract entered into by the Government which is found to be procured via corrupt practices. (I’m sure the AG was exhaling.)

• Within the first 100 days of becoming government, it would implement the Sage Commission’s recommendation to establish three permanent parliamentary oversight committees, which would deal with ministries in order to improve governance, reduce waste and increase efficiency. (The AG was smiling at this one.)

• Campaign-finance reform would be introduced for greater openness and transparency during elections

• The Members’ Register of Interests for Parliamentarians would be further amended to ensure all MP conflicts of interest were revealed in a timely manner

There should be no doubt that these are good promises to the people, no matter where your political persuasion lies.

Regarding campaign-finance reform specifically, Mr Burt said that when the PLP was returned to government, it would implement reform to create full transparency around financial contributions to all political parties, and the oversight of expenditures by them. He was adamant that the people of Bermuda should know who bankrolls our political parties and how those funds are spent.

Referencing the history of the Jetgate saga during the run-up to the 2012 election — which the OBA won — Mr Burt claimed that the OBA had the help of “secret” foreign campaign donations totalling about $350,000 to fill its election war chest, which were then used by separate political activists to get out the vote. In light of this “infraction”, we were told that the next PLP government would put in place regulations to put a spotlight on all future campaign financing. These would include spending limits, the disclosure of individual and corporate donors, and the monetary amounts of large donors, which would halt the practice of buying political influence.

Mr Burt said that once elected, the PLP government would act decisively to ensure democracy is not defined by who has the most money to spend on their election campaigns. This reform would allow examination of potential voter fraud, conflicts of interest and other aspects of our electoral and political process that are subject to abuse by those who would seek to use wealth, influence or intimidation to obtain political or economic power.

I also would remind readers of the 2017 claims by Lovitta Foggo, who, as Government Reform and Opposition Whip, said: “Actions speak louder than words, and the reality is that Premier Michael Dunkley has had nearly five years to address the Register of Interests and campaign-finance reform and all the other promises made by the OBA in 2012 that they failed to keep.”

She said that the OBA had proved it didn’t like questions about where its campaign money came from and it was time for the blatant hypocrisy of that party to end. Mr Dunkley responded by saying he agreed that campaign-finance reform was needed and that he fully supported tightening up the Register of Interests for parliamentarians, which was voluntary back in 2017.

Considering the high priority that Mr Burt and Ms Foggo placed on the function and importance of this members’ register, I thought I would review the online Register of Interests, which lists pertinent financial interests of all Members of Parliament thought to affect their conduct or influence their actions, speeches or votes. To my surprise, it has some very outdated submissions. While all OBA MPs are current with their financial disclosures as of 2023, most of the other government MPs’ declaration forms are several or many years in arrears, having been submitted between 2016 and 2021.

Which one is dated 2016? The one signed by David Burt. Ms Foggo’s form is dated 2017; not exactly up-to-date information. Note: government MP Jamahl Simmons is the chairman of the Committee for the Register of Interests, which has the duty of examining the arrangements made for compiling and maintaining the information contained in the register.

So the PLP won the government in 2017, took possession of the car and has been driving it for the past 6½ years. What happened to these promises on good governance, which many people (hopefully) based their 2017 voting decision on? Nothing.

There has been no campaign-finance reform, there are no new permanent parliamentary oversight committees actively in force, there has been no anti-corruption legislation passed. Remember that new age of a more “participatory democracy”? It is nowhere to be found. It might have been useful regarding the public’s strong reaction to the controversial Fairmont Southampton hotel redevelopment.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

BEVERLEY CONNELL

Pembroke