Senator David Burch?s outlook was branded dictatorial yesterday by a former Regiment Commanding Officer who is incensed at his claims the selection process for the new CO was unjust.

Honorary Colonel of the Regiment Eugene Raynor, who sits on the promotion board that recommended Lt. Col. William White, said the Senator?s remarks ?cause serious questions about the quality of his leadership in future?.

Sen. Burch sparked controversy last week by claiming the selection process had unjustly overlooked the most suitable candidate for ?political and personal reasons?.

He called for Governor Sir John Vereker to be recalled over the matter and suggested that the civilian chairman of the Defence Board and Promotions Board Garry Madeiros should be removed from his position.

?The person who won every contest they had is not the CO today,? said Sen. Burch, who also claimed that people interceded in the selection process to cause an injustice to ?someone who continues to serve?.

However, Col. Raynor rejected both these comments and speculative reports that the Senator favoured Major Marc Telemaque for the position as he had come first in tests.

Col. Raynor said he could not speak about Sen. Burch?s opinion, but that all three final candidates ? Lt. Col. White, Major Telemaque and Major Brian Gonsalves ? were in first place at one stage or another in the deliberations.

?I?d say it was a juggling act. ?We?ve got two apples and we need an orange. There was not an established leader out front,? he told . He added that the decision to recommend Lt. Col. White for the appointment was reached through ?agreeable consensus? after a debate. However, in answer to a question at a press conference yesterday about whether a lack of military experience abroad had counted against Major Telemaque, he replied: ?His overseas experience was a factor?.

In a statement to the conference, he said of Lt. Col. Burch: ?In political terms the word for this sort of outlook is what is attached to people like Hitler, Mussolini and others of today?s world who manage government and civil procedures from their desk only.?

Asked to clarify what he meant, he told later he was referring to the word ?dictatorship?.

Going on to make the point that Lt. Col. Burch had gone through a similar selection process himself as a candidate for the CO?s position, Col. Raynor said: ?For him to now denigrate the process as he has done is outrageous, and steeps of personal offence towards the Regiment and what it stands for. If he feels that procedures for the selection of candidates for positions in the military are useless and unnecessary, what quality of management is he to offer as a member of Government??

He went on to brand the Senator?s comments as ?callous, arrogant and distasteful,? adding ?I can only regard them as a direct insult to members of both boards and also to myself. He surely needs not be reminded that his similar presentations are deemed in no small way to have contributed severely to the demise of the Premiership of Dame Jennifer. Neither would he like to be reminded that during his tenure as Commanding Officer the desirability of service in the Regiment by many young men declined, and continued to get worse after he left. In terms of the responsibility of office that David has now been appointed to, one might expect a higher degree of tact and honesty when passing remarks that are not only misleading but plainly out of order.?

Col. Raynor spent 23 years with the Bermuda Regiment and served as Commanding Officer between 1980 and 1984. He is currently a member of the St. John Ambulance (Bermuda) Board of Directors.

His remarks came after both Mr. Madeiros and Home Affairs Minister Randy Horton had spoken in defence of Lt. Col White?s selection.

Sen. Burch did not respond to calls by press time.