Packwood: ‘Vote For Most Capable Candidate’

[Opinion column written by Cheryl Packwood]

I grew up listening to my grandfather, Cyril Packwood, Sr., boasting of his role in Dr. Gordon’s ability to speak to the people in St. George’s.

I watched Dame Jennifer Smith walk the many streets of St. George’s with a single-mindedness, unmatched by anyone. She was truly inspiring to me, a young girl searching for her place in this world.”

And, yes, I cried when the PLP won in 1998. Politics, political thought, and social consciousness have been part of my reality since I was just a young child.

Growing up as the only child of Cyril and Dorothy Packwood, I had no other choice but to know who Karl Marx and Adam Smith were before realizing that Dr. Seuss wrote “Green Eggs and Ham”.

Unfortunately, after watching more than two decades of our two-party system failing to address the real needs of our people and failing to provide vision beyond the next election cycle, I believe we need to find an alternative. I believe that ultimately we need a third party, but this time around we all need to take a hard look at the independent candidate.

Jobs and wealth are no longer plentiful as they once were. People need to eat, feed their families, go to the doctor and keep a roof over their heads. Our social and justice concerns have changed and the two parties have not made a national plan to address our needs in all these interrelated areas.

Instead, they both work towards the most politically expedient — and temporary — so-called solutions. In the long run, we may need a third party here in Bermuda, but in the coming election we can send an important message by supporting truly “independent” candidates for Parliament.

Our votes must work for our Island, which means we should be selecting Members of Parliament that understand the role of Parliament, the need for a national vision, the ability to create a legislative agenda, and individuals who have substantive knowledge of justice, education, health and mental wellness.

We need to envision what our Island will look like tomorrow, and in 2025, 2040 and 2070.

Like you, I now hear the same words and see the divisive party politics of previous election cycles. I can’t help but wonder how the next five years will differ from those of the past two decades. Our collective decisions on July 18th will have a major impact on our children, our future, our Island.

This will be a very close election where neither party is likely to win a large majority.

Independent candidates can speak up in the House of Assembly with conviction and with the needs of their constituency and our Island as their top priorities. Independent candidates can truly live up to the statement that they “will work for you.” Why? Because independent candidates elected by you cannot be forced to adopt “the party line.”

Independent candidates elected by you will have a seat at the power and policy tables and they can force a better government. This could finally get us a real national economic plan, together with a real legislative agenda.

There are educated, passionate people who are running or considering running as independent candidates. They are looking beyond the interests of our two dominant parties and have the best interests of this island in their hearts and on their minds.

So often I hear it said that “an independent can never win” or “an independent will just split the vote and skew the results”. Are these statements true or rather, do these predictions really have to be true? Are we allowing our settled mindset to miss out on quality people who do not feel aligned with either party? It doesn’t have to be this way. You and I can break the cycle.

On July 18, either the OBA or PLP will win the House; we all have our opinions regarding that outcome. But, there needs to be a check on the new government’s authority through independent voices in Parliament forcing real results that benefit Bermuda.

Without those independent voices, what hope do we have that either party will truly work in the best interest of the people? What is our expectation of true change? What are we leaving for our children and their children? I have three sons who love their home. What will Bermuda be like for them and their children when they are my age?

Independent Members of Parliament are unencumbered by partisan party politics and are genuinely free to represent their constituents.

Independent members of Parliament can bring people to the table to solve local issues without worrying about the interests of political parties. Independent members of Parliament can get things done because they would be beholden to no one except those who elected them.

Independent members of Parliament will put Bermuda first.

They can stand up in the House and hold the executive to account. They are not muzzled. Their concerns are not discussed at closed caucus meetings, never to be heard again. They can be a voice for change.

We are only roughly 64,000 people. Unlike larger societies, we can fix what is not working. We can stimulate our economy and create sustainable jobs through carefully considered vision, a sense of fairness, and a bit of elbow grease.

Yes, you and I must be prepared to think differently and try options that we have always been told can’t work in Bermuda. Yet the way we’ve always done things isn’t working for us anymore. We all feel it.

We are indeed tired of this era of division and we are tired of politics that consider the people last. Let’s try a new approach and new strategies. Let’s put Bermuda first.

Take a serious look at each independent candidate that is running in the upcoming election. Listen to him or her. Then make a real and informed decision. Vote for the most capable candidate even if that person is an independent.

Let’s shake things up and make a change.

- Cheryl Packwood is the former Overseas Representative for the Government of Bermuda in Washington, D.C. Prior to that posting she was the CEO and Deputy Chairman for Business Bermuda where she represented the interests of the financial services sector and Bermuda around the world.

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