Column: Pearman On Desilva, Cabinet & More
[Opinion column written by OBA MP Scott Pearman]
“There’s no such thing as bad publicity.” So said P. T. Barnum, founder of the modestly described ‘Greatest Show on Earth’. His ‘show’ was the Barnum & Bailey Circus.
There was also a film about P.T. a few years back called ‘The Greatest Showman’. You get the idea. Some accused him of being vainglorious in his pursuit of publicity, but there is little doubt P. T. Barnum achieved considerable fame. A prodigious self-publicist, he was also briefly a politician [are you surprised?] elected in 1866 to the Connecticut State Legislature.
Yet was Mr. Barnum right about publicity? Is it always a good thing?
Some may think otherwise…
Step Right Up
Bermuda has witnessed its own [media] circus in the weeks since our general election, with MP Zane De Silva stepping up here, there, and everywhere.
Within days of the election, there was press speculation that the MP for Southampton East had his eyes on becoming Bermuda’s next Premier. News amplified by Premier Burt’s surprise announcement that Zane De Silva was – yet again – returning to the Burt Cabinet. This time round as the newly-minted Minster for Housing & Municipalities.
Shortly thereafter followed Minister De Silva’s own announcement. He released a video revealing he would stand for Deputy Leader of the PLP. This statement shared space under the big tent alongside fresh revelations from the ‘Savvy Scandal’, which saw $800,000 of Bermudian tax payer money ventured to Savvy Entertainment for a music studio that never happened.
These media revelations included reports that $160,000 was subsequently paid by Savvy into MP De Silva’s personal bank account. Mr. De Silva’s lawyers have since confirmed that $100,000 was handed over to the Bermuda Government. It is unclear what happened to the other $60,000.
So there has been a whole load of publicity for MP De Silva of late. Is that a good thing? It has raised his profile, yes. But has it also caused Bermudians to focus more closely on his track record?
It is fair to say MP De Silva is a not a politician without controversy. You can pick your favourite…
Remember his boast as the new Tourism Minister, made on the floor of the House of Assembly, that he would “tear apart the engine” of the Bermuda Tourism Authority? One might reasonably ask how the car will work without an engine, but that was Minister De Silva’s stated goal.
More recently, at Christmas, the Supreme Court revealed that a bank has refused to accept a [re]payment from MP De Silva. Libel laws being what they are, I will be careful to quote the Judgment: “The Bank declined to accept the payment of US$12 million on the grounds that it had concerns over the source of the funds and refunded the monies that had been tendered…” So a bank refused to take $12 million bucks based on “concerns over the source of the funds”. That is surely a matter of considerable concern. Even more so when the concern over the source of funds relates to one of Bermuda’s elected officials.
Amidst such controversies [and there have been others], Premier Burt’s decision to return Zane De Silva to Cabinet begs this question. Why?
Our Premier had 25 MPs from which to select his Cabinet. And this particular choice does not seem driven by experience. Two Cabinet Ministers are newly elected to the House. Conversely, there are five former Ministers in the House who have not returned to Cabinet. Yet Zane De Silva is back in?
Two And You’re Out
It is worth remembering that Mr. De Silva has already twice resigned from Cabinet.
Most recently, he stepped down during the Covid pandemic, after leaked social media posts exposed him celebrating at the Blu Soirée. For that resignation, Premier Burt said he was “frustrated and immensely disappointed…” and that “[t]he events of this weekend seen widely on social media did not represent this government’s months of struggle and hard work to keep Bermuda safe.” The Covid resignation followed a Cabinet departure in 2018, when MP De Silva resigned in solidarity with former Premier Ewart Brown.
This is his third attempt as a Minister.
Our friends to the West celebrate baseball – a game where after three strikes you are out. Here in Bermuda, cricket reigns. And at Cup Match, once you’re all out twice, you’re done.
So how many chances should our politicians get?
- Scott Pearman is the MP for Paget East [Constituency 22] and OBA Shadow Minister for Legal Affairs. He can be reached at spearman@oba.bm.
Scott Pearman raises some valid points about accountability and the optics of political appointments in Bermuda. The repeated controversies surrounding MP Zane De Silva—especially the Savvy Scandal and the Supreme Court revelation about the $12 million—are hard to ignore. Transparency matters, and Bermudians deserve clarity on these issues, not just media speculation or carefully worded legal statements. If a bank flags concerns over the source of funds for an elected official, that’s a red flag that shouldn’t be brushed aside.
That said, I think Pearman’s piece could’ve dug deeper into why Premier Burt keeps bringing De Silva back despite the baggage. Is it loyalty, political strategy, or a lack of better options? The “three strikes” analogy feels a bit simplistic—politics isn’t a game with clear rules like baseball or cricket. Sometimes experience, even if checkered, gets prioritized in a small talent pool like ours. But at what cost to public trust? I’d love to hear more from both sides on that front.
Overall, this article nails the need for scrutiny but leaves me wanting a bit more substance over style. What do others think—how many chances should a politician get before the public says enough?
The OBA places so much emphasis on the PLP leadership and internal elections, yet their own elections are shrouded in secrecy and lack of transparency. Yet no one seems to care, partly because their elections have no real bearing on the public as the chances of them becoming government is slim to none and they are really just there to fulfill role as opposition, and not as government in waiting.
How about responding to the article instead of deflecting, or are you incapable.
Hmmmm, disgruntled and can’t see through the Premiers desire to figure how to use Mr. DeSulva for sure in the line-up of limpeties.