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Dear Sir,

I participate on a number of the Bermuda based blogs and clearly politics leads the discussions that take place on these blogs. As the next General Election is fast approaching and as I do not live in Bermuda I am not afforded the opportunity to vote but that does not prevent me from expressing my views.

I have read with interest that the UBP candidates for this election have signed a Code of Conduct and, although this is something the UBP has talked about for sometime, the timing of this signing and the fact that it was publicly announced is nothing more than an election ploy. As the party claims to have been wishing for a Code of Conduct for a number of years, if it is not a political ploy, why did the party wait until the calling of an

election?

What I also wish is that the UBP would decide what it wants to be. On the one hand it wants the electorate to believe it is a NEW party, yet on the other hand it still wants to piggyback on accomplishments of prior UBP Governments.

Which one is it?

Which one is it? Is the party a NEW party or is it the same ole party that was rejected by the electorate in 1998 and 2003? If the UBP wants to claim the good that was accomplished under UBP Governments then it also needs to acknowledge and claim the bad, cherry-picking is not acceptable.

Additionally, what is the UBP's definition of a NEW party? Putting new faces out in front is only an aesthetic change, a window dressing because the same people sit on committees and provide the funding, unless the UBP want to prove otherwise.

Further, why should we believe that we will see an improved government under the UBP? Are we simply to believe its election promises? After all, it is claiming to be a NEW party, which means that it has no governmental track record.

Let's look at the candidates, there are, by my count, seven current candidates that were sitting MPs under the last UBP Government, the one that was rejected by the electorate in 1998 and 2003 which means the people were not pleased with the previous its performance.

The remainder has never sat as Government MPs or as MPs in general, therefore, they have no track record of providing any form of governance. Therefore, on what basis should the electorate believe the UBP would be a good government? How can they expect the UBP to be effective when the party is NEW and has no track record of governing? Further when one looks at the UBP platform the promises are superficial, for example, the payroll tax exemption, this will put a maximum of $1,900.00 per annum or $158.33 per month back into the hands of those employees eligible for the exemption. Will this really make a dent in the financial security of these persons? I think not.

Let's look at the PLP on the other hand: Has the PLP made some blunders? Sure it has but overall Bermuda is better economically than it ever has been, Bermudians are financially better off than they ever have been. I would agree that many have difficulties because of the economic growth but that is the case where any country sees economic growth. It has been seen that the electorate make decisions based on how they are doing financially (the individual) and how the economy is doing overall and the economy of Bermuda is doing very well and new IB business is entering the economy. This is contrary to what the UBP promised would happen if the PLP were elected as Government, none of the UBP's boogeyman theories have come to fruition and the fact is that the Bermuda economy is today a stronger economy than it was when the PLP first took the Government.

From what I can see there is no reason to change the Government at this time.

[Dr. Brown] has proven to be very effective at his job. Under his watch as Minister of Tourism and Transport Bermuda has more airlift than it has ever had and it is now significantly less expensive to travel to and from Bermuda. Many have claimed that the Bermuda Government has paid some $20 million in guarantees to these airlines but unless I have missed something, this too is alleged. I seem to recall the Operations Manager of the airport (my apologies to him if it wasn't him) state a few months ago that there have been very little proceeds paid toward these guarantees.

I could go on and on but I do believe that the Bermuda electorate will re-elect the PLP to a third term in office because within the two-party system that is currently Bermuda politics, the PLP is the right choice to govern for the sake of the majority of the population.

Guilden M. Gilbert, Jr.

Nassau, Bahamas

This letter had to be cut for reasons of length.[[In-content Ad]]

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