Dear Sir,

We all read with great disappointment the performance, or lack thereof, by the members of Parliament in the House on Friday last. It boggles the mind how a group of 29 MPs needing only 14 to affect legislation can somehow blame the Opposition for their abysmal performance.

It is also somewhat amusing to have the present Government Whip admit that “… legislation is passed in the House all the time without a quorum present”. This must come as a shocking revelation to the Speaker. However, more importantly the wall of silence from the authoritative bodies, namely Government House, the Leader of the PLP, and the Speaker of the House is deafening. To be the Premier, the Governor had to be assured by the appointee that he could get the business of Government done.

The Leader of the PLP most assuredly needs to advise their constituents and Bermuda as a whole as to why the massive failure of 18 members, including himself, could not make it back from lunch break.

Mr Editor, given the very limited amount of time that members meet in the House of Assembly, compared to the salaries they are paid by the taxpayers, a fuller explanation and accountability would be expected. What we have gotten to date is a half-hearted ‘the dog ate my homework’ explanations from the soon to be replaced Whip. Despite former members of the OBA and UBP now being well rewarded and entrenched within the PLP, their appetite for relying on the Opposition OBA to get their work done is still present.

We all wait, with bated breath, for a full and complete explanation from the authorities. But if the past is prologue then we will be waiting a very long time indeed.

DAVID J. SULLIVAN

Paget