Commissiong On ‘People’s Independent Coalition’

The recently announced People’s Independent Coalition is a ‘not a party,’ Rolfe Commissiong said, adding that ”our doors are open to one and all who wish to be apart of this coalition for change.”

Mr Commissiong told Bernews, “Certainly, I am very proud of the work and dedication exemplified by the group of independent candidates from the 2018 election that have rallied to now form the PIC or Peoples Independent Coalition. This coalition is not a party and our doors are open to one and all who wish to be apart of this coalition for change.

“As a founding member of the PIC many of your readers will be aware that over the last couple of years I have been adamant in my view that Bermuda’s political, constitutional and of course economic model is no longer sustainable for growing numbers of Bermudians. This is but another important step in advancing that vision and goal towards Bermuda’s long overdue renewal.

“Can anyone deny that we had an election on the 18th of February that was essentially about nothing except for some ill defined commitment to fairness by the government and silence by the opposition? When asked, fairness for whom the definitive answer is never received. Perhaps its fairness for the private insurers, doctors and dentists as just over eight thousand Bermudians go uninsured with six thousand being Black Bermudians.

“Or fairness for the grocers as the specter of food lines grow. Or fairness for the employers who pay poverty level wages in hospitality while the Government and Oppositions commitment to the living wage remains unfulfilled after eight long years.

“Over 12,000 voters who voted in 2017′s election were nowhere to be found on election day 2025. That the 9,000 plus drop in voter participation between 2017 and 2020 only three years later saw an additional drop of over 3000 voters in February is rarely, if at all mentioned.

“Certainly, many have lost faith in our political system and this economy and the two are connected. But those numbers also tell us that increasing numbers who did not vote for the second consecutive election could not because they no longer live here. They have voted with their feet even those with six figure salaries with jobs and this fall in confidence on the part of to many Bermudians especially our Black Bermudians continues as you read this. They call this displacement.

“This too is a story about emigration and the fate of thousands of Bermudians over the last decade and half principally to the United Kingdom. Many – because they can no longer afford to live in Bermuda or because in an economy lacking diversity their education and degrees can no longer guarantee employment. They call that a brain drain.

“The government brags about this dangerously unbalanced economy. The numbers at face value tell a wonderful story that this economy is booming. But in an economy characterized by higher and higher levels of income and wealth inequality largely driven by successive expansions of IB over two decades – for those at the bottom of income and wealth distribution this growing inequality has not been fair to them as poverty and homelessness grows. Did you know that 92 percent of the 1100 homeless Bermudians are Black males? Left up to the HOME charity though just like the PLP those facts around the racial composition were to be treated as taboo and were never intended to see the light of day. In other words we could talk about homelessness but its victims are to remain invisible which insidiously compounds the problem.

“When one of Ottie Simmons young relatives said to me only recently “Rolfe…you do know that there is no middle class anymore.” Of course Bermuda is not alone in this regard we need look no further than to the West of us in the US to have seen the same trend during the period cited. You will also note what the erosion of its middle class has affected its politics as notion of White Supremacy 21st Century style are mainstreamed in its White House.

“During that period the middle class in the US then comprised sixty percent of its population; now it’s 40 percent. It may have been an even greater drop in Bermuda during that period especially for our Black population.

“Bermuda it gives me no pleasure to sing this tale of woe but it is time to stop listening to feel good fairy tales. I and my colleagues in the coalition believe in you and we still are optimistic about Bermuda’s future. Yet time is not on our side. Our renewal though can only have a chance to succeed if we have the courage to face the future without the comfort of illusions.

“This is the real spirit of Bermuda, forged in social solidarity. Join us…let us build Bermuda’s future together.”

#BermudaPolitics #PIC

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