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It is difficult for me or my colleagues in the United Bermuda Party to see Dr. Dr. Brown as a victim.

Yet that is the way he wants us and the rest of Bermuda to see him; the victim of a vast malevolent conspiracy; a man - a black man - assailed and undermined, attacked and pilloried by white people while "trying to change things."

His enemies, he suggests, are everywhere. The Royal Gazette is the "daily destructor" and "daily advocate for a political party." That political party, needless to say, is the United Bermuda Party, of which I serve as Chairman. Dr Brown likes to imply that most people who criticize him are agents of the United Bermuda Party.

Dragons

It is good for Dr. Brown to have people think he is fighting powerful, regressive forces - "dragons" as he referred to them last year.

Turning oneself into a figure of sympathy is good politics. It blunts criticism and turns the public eye elsewhere. But what is the truth here? Is Dr. Brown criticized because he is black? Is that it, like Dr Brown continuously and not so subtly insinuates?

No one in the United Bermuda Party is against Dr. Brown because he is black. What we are against and what we speak against is arrogance, cronyism, poor planning, unethical behaviour, spin, high-flying lifestyles, intimidation, anti-democratic decisions and, most importantly, an unconvincing commitment to the welfare of people in need, people struggling with cost-of-living pressures.

When we speak on the issues, we are speaking to the need for more effective government; we are speaking of the need for a government that serves the people, not itself.

We are not alone with our concerns. The chorus of complaints from union leaders in recent weeks revealed a broad dissatisfaction in the community that has nothing to do with conspiracy but everything to do with a government that has lost its way. It is not just about Dr. Brown - though he is the leader - but also his fellow Cabinet ministers who are part of every government decision and have clearly not done enough to stop the downward spiral.

Deception

It is a small but telling point but Wednesday's public meeting in Hamilton Parish is an example of how this government thinks of the people it governs. The meeting was advertised as a PLP meeting, but then Works Minister Derrick Burgess told the gathering that it was really a government meeting but because of the continuing government's ban on The Royal Gazette it was advertised as a party meeting. It was, in short, an officially sanctioned deception. (Just another case of "we had to mislead you.")

That says to me the government likes to play fast and loose with the people; where one set of rules exists for them and another set for everyone else. The government's rejection of "binding" arbitration with Police is just the latest example of this double standard.

People are starting to catch on and this is where the criticism is coming from. It is not a conspiracy, regardless of how much Dr. Brown would like us to think it is. Rather, it is a groundswell of complaints by people getting fed up with the sense that they are not being respected, or not getting a fair shake, who more and more see themselves becoming victims in their own country.

Michael M. Fahy is United Bermuda Party Chairman.[[In-content Ad]]

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