Brown's "bamboozled" speech draws stoic reaction from ruling party

Unimpressed: Guests from the ruling One Bermuda Alliance weren’t feeling the love for Dr Brown at Friday night’s annual Labour Day banquet. While the vast majority of the filled to capacity Poinciana ballroom gave the former Premier a standing ovation for his “bamboozled” speech, the delegation led by Premier Michael Dunkley remained firmly ensconced in their seats.

Bermuda’s voters were “bamboozled” and deceived into handing power to the One Bermuda Alliance on December 17 2012, Ewart Brown told guests at Friday’s annual Labour Day banquet.

Reaction from Government Ministers was somewhat mixed – while Economic Development Minister Grant Gibbons dismissed the former Premier’s speech as reminiscent of Richard Nixon’s “Checkers” speech, Works Minister Patricia Gordon-Pamplin was simultaneously critical and empathetic (video below).

“I have no doubt that his feelings of being wronged are tremendously sincere,” Gordon-Pamplin told Politica.

Bermuda’s Works Minister Pat Gordon-Pamplin and ruling party Senator Jeff Baron listen to Ewart Brown’s keynote address at the annual Labour Day banquet

In a half hour keynote address at the Fairmont Southampton’s Poinciana ballroom, the former Premier said that he and the Progressive Labour Party had been falsely accused of corruption and governance failures by political opponents in cahoots with the legacy media – and too many PLP supporters had believed the allegations.

That’s how bamboozling works. You get so pre-occupied with what our mutual enemies say about me – some of you believe them – that you join together against me. You believe all the lies they have printed about the PLP misappropriating funds and stealing $800 million. You coalesce against the PLP. You do not vote for the PLP. You cannot bring yourself to vote for the OBA, so you stay at home. Voila! That is the answer to my question. You were hoodwinked!” Brown said.

That is how the UBP got the government back. You don’t have to tell me, but I know some of you in this very room voted for the OBA – you drank their Kool-Aid. And some of you who did not vote for the OBA stayed at home and didn’t vote at all, which was in fact, a vote for the OBA. But, don’t worry, there is still a chance you might get in heaven. You can redeem yourselves. Keep listening! And wake up!

Video of speech

Guests from the ruling OBA – including Premier Michael Dunkley, and Cabinet Ministers Patricia Gordon-Pamplin, Jeane Atherden, Grant Gibbons, Trevor Moniz, Michael Fahy and Wayne Scott – sat stoically throughout the speech and remained seated during the standing ovation that followed.

Premier Michael Dunkley (l) and Community Affairs Minister Wayne Scott listen to Ewart Brown’s keynote address

Brown insisted that the OBA was working against the interests of ordinary Bermudians and called on labour and the Progressive Labour Party to take a leaf out of the ruling party’s playbook by practicing “functional unity” and toss it out of government before the next election.

Now, the question we need to ask ourselves as Bermudians who are concerned about Bermudians, is what do we need to do in order to win back the government, because nothing else will stop the bleeding. Do we have the grit and the selflessness of a John Barritt? Do we have the patience of Premier Dunkley? Do we have the grit of the OBA? Can we exercise that type of functional unity? I say we can and we must.

We must return the government to the PLP. I will say this again in another way. I am calling for an organized effort to take back the government – starting right now! Right here! We cannot afford to wait 3 more years for an election. There will be nothing left for our people. We must unite; we must re-connect with ourselves; we must be prideless; we must be driven; we must have singular focus.”

PLP supporter Jamahl Simmons, in an extensive interview with Fresh TV’s Elmore Warren, said he hoped that the speech had inspired ordinary Bermudians to speak truth to power.

The Progressive Labour Party’s 14 year tenure as Bermuda’s ruling party ended with the One Bermuda Alliance’s victory at the polls on December 17, 2012.

Ministers Gordon-Pamplin and Gibbons rejected Brown’s assertion that their party had gained power through deception.

“That’s getting to be a bit of a cliche,” said Gibbons. “Everybody who loses feels that somebody took it from them.”

See video of OBA Ministers reaction below