One afternoon, a fox was walking through the forest and spotted a bunch of grapes hanging from a lofty branch.

“Just the thing to quench my thirst,” he thought.

Taking a few steps back, the fox jumped and just missed the hanging grapes. Again the fox took a few paces back and tried to reach them, but still failed.

Finally, giving up, the fox turned up his nose and said: “They’re probably sour anyway” — and proceeded to walk away.

Life imitating art

Khalid Wasi has repeatedly taken a somewhat broad-brush approach in attempting to paint anyone who is or has been a parliamentarian as corrupt or in it only for financial gain.

For clarity, parliamentarians would include both elected Members of Parliament and appointed senators.

In his piece of June 27, 2022, he makes the following outlandish claims:

“Even at the lowest level of participation as a parliamentarian, it guarantees a life beyond poverty, and this without having to have a cause or mutter a word.”

“From a career perspective, the one thing leadership has proved, particularly in small jurisdictions, is that one can come in poorer than a proverbial church mouse, and within four years become a millionaire — for some, multimillionaires.”

“They can live in a one-room flat beside a waste disposal dump, or at the edge of a cemetery, even come out of jail, and inside the year live in palatial surroundings.”

So, essentially, he asserts that elected persons are somehow able to become independently wealthy once elected. With this new-found wealth, they can then live in a palace.

It would be helpful if Mr Wasi stuck to facts versus creative fiction.

Mathematically speaking, elected officials cannot become millionaires based on the salaries that they earn.

For clarity, Members of Parliament's gross pay is $56,000 per annum. After deductions, the net income is less than $48,000 per annum. Senators' gross pay is between $30,000 and $40,000 (if they are Junior Ministers)

Maybe Mr Wasi can explain how to convert that into a million dollars within four years.

He also fails to mention that MPs, and I will say all MPs, generally take a portion of their pay to assist their constituents in times of need.

Some prime examples:

• Back-to-school expenses/events

• Community clean-ups

• Unexpected funeral expenses

• Groceries and other expenses for seniors or the unemployed

• Birthday cards

Perhaps Mr Wasi meant that persons convert that money into a million dollars worth of deeds.

Ulterior motives

This latest piece is a series of not-so-subtle attacks on parliamentarians by Mr Wasi, who, ironically, for several decades, has longed to be a parliamentarian.

Don’t take my word for it; Google it.

Under his given name of Raymond Davis, he has tried to get elected under the United Bermuda Party, then again under his adopted name of Khalid Wasi as an independent candidate in several by-elections and general elections.

He then went on to campaign that the nomination process for candidates needs to be changed. However, no party in Bermuda has ever taken his suggestions seriously.

Perhaps this accounts for why he has resorted to creative fiction with regard to the income of politicians.

• Christopher Famous is the government MP for Devonshire East (Constituency 11). You can reach him on WhatsApp at 599-0901 or e-mail at carib_pro@yahoo.com