Candidates Asked: Good Governance Policies

Good governance must be a priority for all candidates vying for election as MPs in the general election this month.

That is the view of the Voters Rights Association [VRA] which has written to all parliamentary candidates asking them to specifically withdraw their support if they do not want to see a Voters’ Bill of Rights.

The letter says, “By identifying where your commitment lies in seeing Bermuda’s parliamentary process and governance become more transparent, fair and reasonable, you promote and enhance the ability of the voters to participate more actively in the governing of Bermuda.

“This can only be a good thing because our whole community needs to be fully engaged in many of the important choices that lie ahead.

“Party politics has gone astray and this sentiment is being voiced consistently in the community; and the VRA feels that supporting the principles of a Voters’ Bill of Rights is a great opportunity for both political parties and individual candidates to stand for a respectful and participatory process that will move to deepen engagement in our democracy.

“Both political parties profess their desire to make Bermuda better and the Voters’ Bill of Rights is an important and fundamental course of action to fulfill and honour that goal.”

The VRA was established in 2007 and has been campaigning on a variety of measures which it believes will improve democracy and Parliamentary accountability.

Among the issues it wants to see enshrined in the Voters’ Bill of Rights are:

• The Right to Vote, currently the party in power invites you to vote at its election
• The Right to fixed-term elections;
• The Right for all election candidates in a constituency to participate in open debate;
• The Right of constituents to recall parliamentarians they have elected;
• The Right to a fair absentee ballot voting system;
• The Right to Voter Referendums and Citizen Initiatives or similar, to determine public issues.

A spokesperson for the VRA added that other issues also need addressing such as giving the Ombudsman and Auditor General the power to subpoena people and making the Human Rights Commission a completely independent commission established under the Bermuda Constitution.

“The Attorney General should also not be affiliated to any political party and the post should be shielded against influence from the government of the day.

“To have the Attorney General sitting in the Cabinet is not acceptable. In a small community the legal system must be free from political influence.”

The spokesman added: “A lot of the things we believe are necessary already exist in other jurisdictions. The UK has fixed term elections and if a petition in the UK reaches 100,000 signatures it will be considered for debate in parliament.

“Bermuda is a relatively young democracy and these measures can help it mature to be more responsive and accountable to the electorate.

“We will be very interested to see which of the parliamentary candidates proactively opt out of supporting the measures we are proposing.”

The letter is below:

Dear

The Voters Rights Association has been in existence since 2007, with the following mission statement:

“The mission of the Voters’ Rights Association [VRA] is to provide a voice and a vehicle within the political process for voters to participate more fully in the policy decisions that affect their collective lives.”

The VRA’s committee has been observing the state of affairs since the last election when there were commitments made to address issues that are basic common sense for enhancing democracy. The VRA engaged the brightest legal, intellectual and philosophical minds prior to the last election in a collaborative process to arrive at the basic principles for the Voters’ Bill of Rights set forth below.

The VRA is adopting the position of negative resolution whereby only in the instance where you object to any principle of the Voters’ Bill of Rights will your objection be noted and subject to open debate. Having observed the process of ‘onboarding’ and the difficulty of reaching consensus we are offering you the opportunity for ‘offboarding’ instead. That ‘offboarding’ to take shape in the form of declaring any objection to the basic principles of the Voters’ Bill of Rights. We ask that you clearly state your objection to any particular principle and put forth your reasoned arguments against that principle concisely and clearly.

By identifying where your commitment lies in seeing Bermuda’s parliamentary process and governance become more transparent, fair and reasonable, you promote and enhance the ability of the voters to participate more actively in the governing of Bermuda. This can only be a good thing because our whole community needs to be fully engaged in many of the important choices that lie ahead.

Party politics has gone astray and this sentiment is being voiced consistently in the community; and the VRA feels that supporting the principles of a Voters’ Bill of Rights is a great opportunity for both political parties and individual candidates to stand for a respectful and participatory process that will move to deepen engagement in our democracy. Both political parties profess their desire to make Bermuda better and the Voters’ Bill of Rights is an important and fundamental course of action to fulfill and honour that goal.

We thank you for your time and consideration and sincerely hope that you remain ‘onboard’ to help enhance Bermuda’s extraordinary potential. The VRA will continue being a vehicle for discussion, debate and solutions on key issues affecting Bermudians and Bermuda.

Yours sincerely,

The VRA proposes the following to be the basis for a Voters’ Bill of Rights:

• The Right to Vote; [Currently the party in power invites you to vote at their election]
• The Right to fixed-term elections; [Currently the government has an unfair timing advantage]
• The Right for election candidates to be from the constituency they live in or an adjoining constituency;
• The Right for all election candidates in a constituency to participate in open debate; [Debate is important to determine the facts and to see if the potential representative understands the constituents needs…not just the party’s needs]
• The Right of constituents to recall parliamentarians they have elected; [Extremely important]
• The Right to a fair absentee ballot voting system; [All eligible Bermudians overseas should have the right to vote]
• The Right to confirm electronically tabulated votes through verifiable paper records;
• The Right to independent court-appointed observers and auditors to monitor the parliamentary election and polling process; [There is an urgent need for an Independent Electoral Commission placed in the Constitution as currently the potential exists for fraud]
• The Right to Voter Referendums and Citizen Initiatives or similar, to determine public issues; [Petitions to the government of the day have been systematically ignored, even one with over 15,000 signatures. Government must listen and act when the people have spoken. Referendums are an appropriate vehicle to raise and determine public issues and citizen’s initiatives: before this can happen the people will firstly need the Right to Vote.]
• The Right to have proportional representation on Government Boards, Parish Councils, Committees, Quangos and any other government appointive infrastructure. [Currently such boards etc are filled mostly by Party members loyal to the government...following party line. We believe that in most instances a proper cross-section of Bermudians can work together and resolve problems in the publics’ best interest.]

Some other items that need addressing:

Under… ”The Right to know the truth.”

… The Ombudsman’s powers need to be strengthened with the power of subpoena so that this extremely important office can investigate ALL levels of government to ferret out any problems or corruption. Current powers disallow such in depth investigations. And

… The Auditor General’s powers need to be strengthened to ensure full and proper access to all relevant financial and other supporting files and records, including those of Government suppliers. The Auditor General should also have the power of subpoena, and

… The Human Rights Commission should be a completely independent commission established in the Bermuda Constitution. The commission should be proactive in looking after the rights of Bermudians (not acting as a defense unit to protect the government). The current commission is more reactive than proactive – a proactive Commission would undoubtedly have introduced a proper Voters Bill of Rights by now.

Under… ”The Right of legal protection against bias.”

… The Attorney General should not be affiliated to any political party and the post should be shielded against influence from the government of the day. To have the Attorney General sitting in the Cabinet is not acceptable. In a small community the legal system must be free from political influence. Justice must always be done but must also be seen to be done!

Under… ”The Right to expect full accountability.”
… Elected Parliamentarians and the Civil Service must be all held fully accountable for their decisions and actions particularly as regards the public funds financed by the taxpayer: such accountability to be assessed under the Laws of Bermuda and fines and/or jail terms to be meted out accordingly as would happen in the private sphere.

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