PLP & OBA Statements On AG, Changes & More
The PLP and OBA both released statements pertaining to the announcement of the Attorney General position, politics and more.
OBA’s Scott Pearman’s Statement
Scott Pearman — the Shadow Minister for Legal Affairs — said, “Will the last person to leave the Burt Administration please turn off the lights?
“There is a saying that all political careers end in failure. Eventually you are out, one way or another.
“One can’t help but feel that the outgoing Burt Administration has reached the end of its run.
“Only last month two cabinet ministers jumped ship – one taking the unprecedented step this week of leaving a government in disarray to cross the floor to the opposition OBA.
“The Cup Match departure of the Attorney-General [AG] triggered a vacancy in the AG role. Barely three weeks ago, Kim Wilson stepped in to fill the AG and Legal Affairs role. Yet today she announces that she too is stepping away from that Ministry.
“The Premier’s solution is to make yet another temporary appointment, with the Director of Public Prosecutions [DP] becoming a non-political AG. This has the look of a leader who has lost control over his future, forced to make reactive decisions as events keep on hitting him.
“Yet the Premier’s statement today reveals the appointment of the DPP, Ms. Cindy Clarke, is itself merely “ on a temporary basis”. This is stopgap politics. All David Burt is doing is buying time. Bermuda needs better leadership than this.
“It is increasingly clear that David Burt’s job is the temporary one.”
PLP Statement
A PLP spokesperson said, “On a day when the PLP Government announced that an Attorney-General from the private sector will join the Cabinet on September 16, the OBA comes up with another petty release to try to mislead and divide the island.
“The OBA would do well to focus on their brewing internal war in Constituency #9 between Vic Ball and Vance Campbell, rather than trying to deflect from their own internal squabbles.
“Today the PLP rolled out our candidate for Pembroke East, and tomorrow we will roll out our candidate for Sandys North.
“Our candidates stand ready to compare our record of increasing pensions for our seniors, introducing a minimum wage, and reducing payroll taxes for workers to their lowest level in history while ensuring that those who earn more pay their fair share; against the anti-Bermudian agenda of the OBA.”