Kim Swan: Premier As The Provocateur-in-Chief
Kim.Swan, Leader of the Opposition, has expressed his concerns over “Government ministers use inflammatory language” and expressed concern that there no one in Government exerting discipline or setting a better example for ministers saying that we see “the Premier as the provocateur-in-chief”.
Mr Swan’s full statement follows below:
The Progressive Labour Party Government is lowering the standards of public discourse with their intemperate, infantile attacks on those who dare question their handling of public issues.
It has been happening with increasing frequency and it must stop for the sake of community standards and morale.
In the past couple of weeks we have seen Government ministers use inflammatory language when challenged to explain government policy and actions. They have hurled racist taunts at members of my party asking questions about government policy and performance. And just last week, we heard that a minister tore up a letter from the Mayor of Hamilton and sent it back to him in an envelope with a ‘return to sender’ stamp.
This kind of behaviour is just childish and absolutely unacceptable for a minister of the Bermuda government. It distracts public attention and does nothing to further productive government.
Our concern is that no one in the Government is exerting the discipline or setting a better example for ministers. Indeed, we see the Premier as the provocateur-in-chief. As a result there is no accountability for bad behaviour, no one to rap knuckles or even fire ministers for setting a bad example.
Bermuda is better than the in-your-face combativeness this Government’s ministers. We don’t want Bermuda defined by it. We’re better than that, much better.
