Thinking alike?

July 14, 2009

Dear Sir,

Are Bermudians of all races finally realising that 'people who look like me' are not always 'people who think like me'? I hope so.

PAS

Warwick

Change the leader

July 13, 2009

Dear Sir,

I address this letter to the Members of Parliament of the Progressive Labour Party. And, to be clear, I am a lifelong and active member of the United Bermuda Party.

You are in the House as representatives of the members of your Party.

Nothing more. You were asked to stand for election for the sole purpose of representing the views of your members. In the simplest terms, ALL members of any legislative body are essentially just that. You were not elected to serve some other master; just the members. You were not elected to blindly follow the others; you were supposed to be your own person.

Ewart Brown has clearly said, demonstrated and otherwise shown that all he cares about is revenge for the perceived way he feels he was treated by the white establishment of the 1960's and he will use whatever tool is available for his own retention of dictatorial rule.

He is most assuredly NOT working for the interests of Bermuda. Under his leadership, the components of what we like to call 'the quality of life' in Bermuda have been decimated. No, I don't mean money; you may not, and probably haven't, suffered financially for anything Ewart has done but I can assure you that YOU have suffered a great loss. That loss is measured by the division within our community based on race; that loss is measured in the shootings and murders and crimes against individuals which have run rampant under an administration where the Police are curtailed and controlled and essentially useless when it comes to prevention. That loss is seen in the many, many areas of Bermudian life which have been allowed to fall into disrepair while Dr. Brown travels the world.

The PLP came to power in 1998 with two disadvantages. First, the mentality of the PLP (and I accept the blame here) was more of a person working for someone else rather than being 'the Boss'. Second, the PLP (their choice) had always declined to be involved in any way with the governance of Bermuda. But the PLP has grown over the past 12 years and they are not the same Party they were in 1998. They should be more knowledgeable; more confident; more capable; and, with the absolute absence of any Opposition, far more secure.

The people of Bermuda and the members of your own Party are, in the main, just looking for decent people to lead decent people in a decent and compassionate way. You have the ability to make that work for the PLP and the way to do that is to rid yourself and Bermuda of the one person who is NOT interested in decency and put either Paula or someone else up as the Leader.

I may not follow your political philosophy but I do believe in democracy.

Furthermore, I really have no difficulty with the ability of the PLP to properly govern Bermuda and if I might speak for many others, I'd say that most Bermudians have no problem with the PLP. The problem here is Ewart Brown. Whilst I could care less about him, I firmly believe that if you change the leader to someone more palatable to all of us...then I believe the PLP will be the governing party for many years to come.

A SAD BUT HOPEFUL BERMUDIAN

Southampton

Democracy to autocracy

July 10, 2009

Dear Sir,

I write to express my concern about the gradual erosion of democracy in Bermuda. True democracy functions from the grass-roots electorate upward to the top and those at the top listen to, and are answerable to the citizens. A multi-tiered government provides checks and balances which ultimately work in the best interest of the people.

Parish Vestries, which used to represent the parishioners at the grass-roots level, were abolished some years ago by the Government of the day. The members of the Parish Vestries in those days represented the interests of the residents of each parish and saw to the day-to-day maintenance of each parish. The members of the Parish Vestries knew their constituents and the constituents knew their Parish Vestry members and things got done.

After the Vestries were abolished, the government appointed members to Parish Councils which are now purely advisory in nature, and the members have little or no say in the running of their individual parishes. The tasks for which the Parish Vestries were once responsible were taken over by the relevant Government Ministries. The standard of maintenance at the local level declined. The peoples' voices got a little distant. The slide down a very slippery slope had begun.

Then there were the Government Boards. Government Ministries and Departments used to be presided over by Government Boards, the members of which were selected from a list of people who expressed an interest, and who had expertise in the relevant fields. Government Ministers not only listened to, but acted upon their advice. Government Boards were considered an excellent training ground for national politics. Today, the Government Boards are purely advisory and are comprised, for the most part, of party stalwarts who have been rewarded for political services rendered. Thus was lost another avenue for the peoples' voices to be heard, and the slippery slope got more slippery.

The Corporations of Hamilton and St. George's, the members of which are elected, represent the municipal level of Government. They offer yet another forum through which the peoples' voices may be heard. Now our Government has decreed that the Municipalities Act is to be repealed, which will automatically render the Mayors, Aldermen and Common Councillors redundant. The proposal is that, once again, the central government will assume responsibility for the services currently provided by the Corporations. The reason given was to effect economies of scale. It is unlikely, however, that the City of Hamilton and the Town of St. George will be better served. I can't think of a single small town or village anywhere in the world that doesn't have its own elected municipal government and its own Mayor with all the attendant tradition that goes back deep into history. The peoples' voices are becoming fainter and that slippery slope is getting steeper.

All that will remain, once the Municipalities Act is repealed, is the central government. The voice of the little man will indeed be hard to hear. So, what will be the next target? I would hazard an educated guess that the Bermuda Constitution will be amended to abolish the Senate which, after all, is appointed and which has very little, if any, legislative clout. If that were to happen, we would be left with a single-tiered Parliamentary body in the form of the House of Assembly. The Opposition at least that's what it is called is already totally impotent and is unlikely to last beyond the next election. What is left will be a single-party Government, and Bermuda, after 400 years of self-governance, will have evolved from a democracy to an autocracy. The peoples' voices will be heard no more. The only saving grace is that Her Majesty's Government is unlikely to consider an autocracy to be a good candidate for independence.

Notwithstanding the rather gloomy outlook above, my belief in Bermuda and the Bermudian people is just as strong as my belief in democracy. In my heart of hearts, I do not believe that the people of Bermuda will allow their voices to be silenced. So how much longer will we sit back and watch it happen?

CLW

St. David's