It is impossible to prove that Independence will solve racial tensions in Bermuda, the Washington Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) said yesterday.

Bermudians who believe it will should vote for Independence ? yet there is no reason that steps cannot be taken now to solve existing problems in the country prior to the establishing of full sovereignty.

Government must not allow rhetoric to get in the way of solving the deep social problems facing the community right now, the organisation warned.

Efforts by Premier Alex Scott to accelerate the debate on sovereignty appears to be a push for a ?make-or-break? vote on the topic ? known in the US as the ?nuclear option?, the think-tank stated.

COHA also had some words of warning to those opposed to Independence: ?The UBP and other critics of Independence should not assign the Independence movement the role of a convenient scapegoat in order to explain existing racial tension, crime, or any other of the Island?s existing economic, political, and social maladies?.

And those on either side of the debate are minimising or exaggerating the costs of Independence to suit their own agendas, COHA said. While the PLP must keep in mind that the ?fickle international business community? could well abandon ship in the face of such a drastic change, the UBP and other opponents ?should not rely on doomsday scenarios to drum up support?.

According to 1995 estimates by the UBP on the costs of Independence, it added, the country can well afford sovereignty.

The American information organisation, which recently produced a paper written by an undergraduate intern who declared Premier Alex Scott is risking ?political suicide? by pursuing Independence, released another press release yesterday on the issue prepared by the director of the organisation, Larry Binns. ?The question remains why Premier Scott has taken on this unpopular issue precisely as his own personal approval ratings plummet below 35%,? Mr. Binns and COHA research associate Jorge Esteban wrote in the release.

The question today, COHA stated, is not whether or not the Island should go Independent but whether the vote should be conducted as part of a General Election or as a referendum. Mr. Binns and Mr. Esteban also said Mr. Scott has taken credit for a UK memo from Overseas Territories Minister Bill Rammell. Mr. Rammell has noted that while the presumption of the UK is that a referendum is the preferred process, the process will be decided on a case-by-case basis. Mr. Scott and Cabinet have said Mr. Rammell?s report endorsed the creation of the Bermuda Independence Commission and left the door open for a General Election. ?However, Mr. Rammell?s report was perfectly clear,? the COHA statement read. ?It only stated that the British government preferred referenda as the mechanism of choice for achieving Independence.?

Later, the statement questioned Mr. Scott?s political motives in pursuing the issue, ?especially when on average 60 percent of Bermudians have consistently been opposed to Independence?.

The Premier?s promotions of Independence are ?disappointing?, COHA said, ?particularly when he suggested Independence would cut crime as a result of giving the Bermuda Government control of its Police force.

?Currently, Bermuda funds and controls its entire Police force with the exception of the Chief of Police, a position selected at the Governor and Crown?s discretion.?

When Mr. Scott made that argument at the beginning of 2005, Government continued to dispute the amount of control it had over the Bermuda Police Service while the UBP wondered how Government could not control the Police when it holds the purse strings.

?As much as Premier Scott and the PLP might like Bermudians to believe it, ?God Save the Queen? has no demonstrable effect on crime.?

Meanwhile, the suggestion that Independence would allow Bermudians to erase existing social inequalities and would suddenly prompt residents to dismantle the hierarchy (?allow the haves to continue to have, while the have-nots have more?) was ?naive? and ?unlikely at best?, they said.

The new national flag and symbol in the United States after the Emancipation Proclamation, civil war, and civil rights movement did not ease the divide between the races, it noted.

However COHA immediately added that Bermudians affected by what they perceive as an unfair and racially divided history attached to the link with England, who see no recourse under Bermuda?s present status and want to start on a clean slate, ?should by all means vote for Independence ... However there is no reason that these and other Bermudian problems cannot be tackled now, prior to the establishment of full sovereignty, if that is the goal?.

COHA called for a referendum to decide the issue, saying it appeared the PLP?s hopes for Independence via a General Election could lead to Mr. Scott?s gambling away a rewarding position in Bermuda?s public life. ?The governing PLP with Premier Scott at its head might want to separate its current role as representatives of the people of Bermuda and their dreams of Independence in order not to allow heady rhetoric to obfuscate a possible, practical solution now to the Island?s deep social problems ? which will not necessarily disappear with a change in political form.?

Government was aware of the COHA statement, however a response could not be received by press time last night and is expected today. More information on COHA, including the entire press release, can be found at www.coha.org.