‘Mortally flawed’: COHA’s view of the independence debat
Highlights of the report:
? Premier Scott must reach out to the entire electorate and clearly demonstrate that the benefits of cutting ties merit the rise of potentially negative consequences.
? His evidence must be equivocal and must reflect benefits for the entire Bermudian society as opposition to independence presently seems to be evenly spread among all social classes.
? The Bermuda Independence Commission Report released last year was “mainly a caricature of professional inquiry, and was conducted in a manner in which seriousness of purpose and accountability could not flourish.”
? One of BIC’s “most egregious flaws was its statement that it had found no instance of a referendum being used to decide the issue of independence.”
? The exclusion of the Opposition UBP report from BIC’s final report, while including the PLP’s, signalled the inherent bias in the report.
? BIC’s declaration that the final cost of independence could only be decided on the eve of independence was an example of the way BIC manipulated the process to provide a positive side to independence.
? Despite this, Premier Scott is convinced that the commission has done a “superb job” and he continues to quote from it even though “the document is mortally flawed and little short of being worthless.”
? The PLP has skewered balanced information on the independence question, while stressing “tendentious interpretations and resorting to boorish and snarling intolerance when it comes to alternative points of view.”
? Bermuda’s government must comprehensively address the new processes and responsibilities that would result from independence and seek solutions that are specific and feasible — a cursory look at the Middle East, the now independent states of the former Soviet Union and large parts of Asia and Africa, will vividly demonstrate that independence can bring on as many pains as blessing and sometimes brings on far more problems than it can solve.
? Premier Scott has continuously insisted on a general election, but both the U.K. and the U.N. are on record as supporting the referendum approach.
? The UBP has offered a comprehensive defence for holding a referendum.
? New UBP leader Wayne Furbert was quoted as saying he would vote ‘no’ to independence, but he might have addressed other areas of concerns, such as the new expenses that would befall an independent Bermuda.
? Premier Scott’s task, among other things will be to recognize there is more involved with independence than enjoying being called Prime Minister.
? The success of the Bermudians for Referendum campaign offers one approach to solving the independence question once and for all.
Meredith Ebbin
A U.S. think tank that called on Premier Alex Scott to take a pay cut overstated his annual salary by $35,000.
Larry Birns, director of Washington D.C.-based Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA), apologized for getting his facts wrong.
But he was making no apologies for his belief that politicians should have a simple life — they should catch the bus and walk to work like ordinary people.
“People who go into Government service should assume a modest lifestyle,” he said.
Salaries earned by the Premier and Cabinet ministers came under scrutiny in a 13-page report on Bermuda’s independence debate that COHA released last Saturday.
The report criticized Mr. Scott for failing to give Bermudians all the facts on independence, accused him of using “canned jargon” in his bid to sell independence to the public, and said the report of the Bermuda Independence Commission (BIC) had “major flaws.”
It also said many members of Cabinet feel they are underpaid with their $100,000 a year salaries, and gave Mr. Scott’s annual salary as $147,728 a year, a figure that is “roughly three times the figures earned by many of their counterparts outside the country.”
However, a report released in Parliament on Monday has recommended a big increase in Cabinet Ministers’ salaries to $100,000 and $150,000 per year, in addition to their salaries as a MP or Senator, depending on whether they are full-time or part-time.
But the Premier currently earns $111,714 per year and the average salary of Cabinet minister is just over $78,000, a figure that rises for the Finance Minister and Deputy Premier.
The source for the salaries was Bermuda On-line, a website compiled by Keith Forbes and owned by The Royal Gazette, which also said the Premier gets an “oversize Peugeot too big for the public to own.”
Mr. Birns told the Sun that mayors of cities with the same population as Bermuda don’t get cars: “Why such imperial pomposity?” he said.
He also said the report, which is available on line, has averaged hits ranging from 550 to 900 per day since it was released, the highest ever for any of its reports.
In its report, COHA came out against independence for Bermuda, even though it said it had supported every other independence campaign it has examined “where a majority of people favour it. It also said there were a number of “disconcerting aspects” to Premier Alex Scott’s “driving quest to achieve it pretty much by any means.”
It also accused Ms. Scott of not being straight with the public, and of being intolerant of other people’s views. It said Mr. Scott must present the public with a detailed plan about how independence will benefit Bermudians or give up the fight.
Mr. Scott and Rev. Vernon Lambe, chairman of the Bermuda Independence Commission (BIC), declined to comment on the report.
Sensational?
Bermuda Sun columnist Stuart Hayward, who has criticized earlier COHA reports, said he had not seen its latest review.
However, he did say that COHA’s sources were too narrow and its reports tend to be “sensationalized” because the validity of the organization depends on how many of their reports are published in newspapers.
“It’s designed for the publication market, which is different from research journals,” he said.
But Mr. Birns said COHA does both opinion pieces and research pieces. He also said COHA spoke to a lot of people in Bermuda, in addition to using articles it found on the Internet.
COHA also said: “The advocates of independence must come up with decisive arguments proving that independence will overwhelmingly benefit the nation and its citizenry or must in good conscience surrender their fight.
“The issue must not get in the way of confronting enduring economic, social and political matters that need to be solve in a timely fashion if the island is to thrive: housing; public health, education, an overly narrow based economy; and the need to rehabilitate tourism.”
