FORMER Premier Sir John is Bermuda's only hope of reclaiming its "special" relationship with the world's leading political powers and restoring the island to its golden days, an hotelier and former Senator claimed yesterday.

And, said Michael Winfield, it should be the United Bermuda Party and not activist Toppy Cowen asking its former leader to rejoin its ranks for the good of the entire country.

"I think it would be insulting and wrong for Sir John to have to place a bid for leadership," said the president and CEO of Cambridge Beaches.

"I think that if the UBP got it right, it would beg him to return although I'm not sure that he would. He continues to go up and see and meet and talk with (former United States President) George Bush, Sr. and (Secretary of State) Colin Powell and (former UK Prime Minister) Margaret Thatcher. He has extraordinary connections. We don't see that with Government today.

"Why would he reduce that stature to come back to the unpleasant level of local politics? I'm not sure he hasn't gone past that. Maybe that's where he should stay. Having said that, John Swan is, above all else, a Bermudian and has an enormous love for this land and perhaps he could be persuaded.

"I suspect that if the choice (at election) was either the UBP, the PLP or John Swan - that there were no named candidates - I think the results would be extraordinary.

"I think his vision is as fresh and vibrant today as it was ten years ago and certainly in comparison with the other choices but getting him back would be a tough sell and take a number of unselfish actions by a number of people."

As a leader, Mr. Winfield (pictured) added, Sir John is probably the only politician Bermudians would trust to deal with the many issues which divide the island today.

"Why is it, do you think, that John Swan can feel as comfortable talking to people on Court Street as he does on Front Street? It's because he listens. He doesn't make assumptions. Many people criticise Court Street and say it's filled with drug smugglers and criminals and they don't want to go there.

"On Court Street, there are probably a couple. On Front Street there are probably many more. But we make these blanket assumptions and generalisations that cause us so many problems.

"Within 15 months we're going to face an extraordinarily important decision. What are we going to make that decision based on? I've had no involvement in either political party since the last election and am somewhat fortunate that I can look at both and ask what either are offering me.

"Which party has the vision I see as being the Bermuda of the future? Which party has any vision? Everybody's paying lip service to today's issues but where do they want to be ten years from now? I think Bermudians are crying out for vision and if they vote to that vision, people have to discard race and all the other issues that have dominated us for so long."

A former Senator and Cabinet Minister for the United Bermuda Party, Mr. Winfield spent 20 years in local politics, beginning with the UBP's Under-40 caucus while still in his early 20s. He took over as president of the group before he was asked to become the ruling party's campaign manager.

"I spent 20 years there," he said, "while I could have accumulated more wealth (focusing on other things). I believe no one should become entrenched. You have to turn it over to the next generation and that's the reason I quit."

Sir John, Mr. Winfield said, was criticised for calling young black males in Bermuda a problem when it was Bermuda which was at fault for failing to address those issues that faced certain members of the population.

"If it's a reality, let's find out how we can reverse that. We're a nation of problem identifiers, imagine if we became a nation of solution finders. To a large extent, young black males are a problem. Why is it that young black females are successful? Are they tougher? Why have they got hope and another segment of society doesn't have hope?

"You don't see young, black females sitting on the walls. It's a total waste and I'm not blaming people, I'm blaming the leadership that's not identifying or communicating how we change it."

But while the hotelier advocated change in some areas, he said many of those which had taken place since Sir John resigned as Bermuda's Premier and leader of the UBP in 1995, had been to the island's detriment.

"For years we had a special relationship with the United States and, to a lesser extent, the United Kingdom," he said. "My belief is that by joining Caricom and linking ourselves with the Caribbean, we're saying to the US that we just want to be with the Caribbean.

"The United States has demonstrated that they no longer see us as being special. We used to hold political summits here; we had political leaders here; that doesn't happen any longer. They don't see us as special any more. When John Swan went to the White House, he got in to the Oval Office. He would talk work, he would talk relationship building, we were special.

"Sir John changed the way Bermuda thought and was so successful at it, by the time he resigned Bermuda thought (its success) had nothing to do with his leadership. They thought success was automatic."

Business People - see page 14