Opposition leader Jarion Richardson has called for a Commission of Inquiry into the cyberattack on the Government, rejecting the Premier’s pledge to set up a parliamentary committee.

Mr Richardson told The Royal Gazette last night: “The people of Bermuda deserve to know the full scope of how the cyberattack occurred and, most importantly, how can it be prevented from happening again.

“We have heard how people have been seriously impacted and the full story cannot go undisclosed and unresolved.”

He said the Opposition had already called for an independent investigation and has now renewed that in the wake of David Burt’s promise at a press conference on Monday to have MPs conduct a “full inquiry”.

The Premier told reporters: “In my view the best place for this to be will be via the parliamentary process, so that government backbenchers and opposition members are able to participate.

“I will discuss this with the Speaker of the House and the Leader of the Opposition and work with them to establish an appropriate parliamentary committee to look into this matter.”

Mr Richardson said: “To put the cyberattack inquiry into Parliament would make it subject to political manipulation, and Bermuda will never know the full story.

“This parliament is not equipped to undertake an inquiry of this nature after being hobbled by this government.

“The people’s House has been persistently disregarded through diminished chambers and offices, sudden meeting dates, rushed legislation and pushing the boundaries of parliamentary procedure.

“The cyberattack inquiry must be independent to get to the bottom of things.”

The Opposition leader said he believed a Commission of Inquiry — a rigorous investigation that can be instigated by the Governor or by the Premier himself — was the right forum.

Today marks four weeks since the cyberattack happened, and the public have yet to be told if it involved ransomware, a scenario where hackers encrypt a network and demand payment in exchange for a decryption key.

Mr Burt said on Monday there was circumstantial evidence that the perpetrators may have obtained personal data about residents but gave no further details.

A legislative change in 2015 gave the Premier the power to form a Commission of Inquiry under the amended Commission of Inquiry Act 1935. Previously, only the Governor could do so.

The first to be ordered by a premier was in 2015 by Michael Dunkley, when he was leader of the One Bermuda Alliance, and it looked into the findings of several highly critical Auditor-General reports.

Mr Burt ordered one in 2019 into historical land losses.

The Government rejected the need for anything beyond what Mr Burt has already mentioned.

“Another million-dollar commission of inquiry is not necessary when there are members of both Houses who can serve on this committee, inquire into the issues with the assistance of technical officers and, where necessary, provide recommendations to assist the Government,” said a spokeswoman yesterday.