An Opposition senator yesterday accused the Government of time-wasting to dodge debate on the new Budget.

Douglas De Couto, of the One Bermuda Alliance, claimed that the Government side ate up time by reading out unnecessary details about their portfolios, which left little time for discussion.

Fixed times – usually between two and five hours – are set aside for each ministry’s budget to be debated in the House of Assembly and Senate, which is meeting this week.

But Mr De Couto, said the arrangement was open to abuse.

In a statement this afternoon Mr De Couto said he had listened to a government senator “read every word and number in the national security brief word-for-word”.

Mr De Couto added: “Yesterday, during a two-hour session on the Ministry of Finance, the government senator only left a few short minutes for me to ask questions on the brief.

“As you can imagine, I was barely even able to ask a handful of questions, none of which were answered, on what you might consider to be the most important ministry for this Budget debate.”

Editorial: Killing democracy one Budget debate at a time

He said the Opposition had only seven minutes to ask questions after the Progressive Labour Party’s junior minister wrapped up a presentation on the legal affairs ministry budget, which was scheduled for a two-hour debate.

Mr De Couto said: “To make matters worse, there were three senior civil servants who attended to support the minister, whose time was completely wasted.”

He added: “The purpose of this debate is to shed light on the Government’s plans and how it plans to spend the people’s money, by asking questions and seeking clarification on the various budget items.

“It’s a way of providing transparency and accountability of the Government to the people. These debates should be a vital part of Bermuda’s democracy and checks and balances.

“It seems the PLP Government has chosen to disregard its accountability to the people, and disrespect them by hiding behind these briefs.”

Mr De Couto challenged David Burt, the Premier, and his team to “open themselves up to questions and challenges”.

He said: “A confident and secure leader would welcome challenge and debate as they know it would create better outcomes for our island and it would give them an opportunity to highlight their mastery of and supporting detail behind their plans.

“That’s the kind of leader we need now in Bermuda. I hope that the PLP Government can find such a person in their ranks.”

Mr De Couto also took aim at Owen Darrell, a Government senator, and claimed he made repeated references to “people who look like me” during his presentation.

Mr De Couto said: “Like many on this Island, I hope that we can have a leadership and Government that represent us all, regardless of race, creed, and background.

“It’s clear that senator Darrell is not up to that task.”

Mr De Couto’s concerns were supported by Senate colleague Ben Smith.

Mr Smith said: “There seems to be an effort to silence anyone not in the government and the lack of transparency leads to questions of what is being hidden.”

Mr Smith noted that Ernest Peets, the Minister for Youth, Sports and Community Affairs, spent just half of his time slot explaining his ministry’s spending plans – freeing up one hour for discussion.

But according to Mr Smith, this was an exception rather than the rule.

He said: “The debate on Legal Affairs continued the same government plan to read for most of the session, leaving little time for questions or answers. This was the same behaviour in the House of Assembly.