Politics
Bermuda elects new govt on Monday – polls suggest that Premier Cox facing defeat
The Gazette poll put the OBA 13 points ahead of the PLP. The poll showed Premier and Finance Minister Paula Cox with only a 34 percent favorability rating, third behind rival Craig Cannonier, the leader of the OBA, who got 48 percent, and Michael Dunkley, his deputy, who had a 51 percent favorability rating among voters.
Cannonier, is a businessman who arrived on the political scene five years ago, he became Opposition Leader when he won a seat in the House of Assembly 12 months ago.
Ms. Cox fared better in the poll than her deputy, Derrick Burgess, who had a 23 percent rating, and former UBP leader Kim Swan, who scored 26 percent.
Cox, the fourth PLP Premier since the party’s 1998 victory, which ended 30 years of unbroken UBP rule, told a press conference: “We’ve gone through the worst global economic crisis since the Great Depression, but in times like these, we need leaders that have a heart for the people and who truly care about Bermudians like you.
“The PLP may not be perfect – no one is. We are all human. But, what we have done is stand strong for our people and deliver real results that even our opponents are now praising.”
Shadow Finance Minister Bob Richards said: “Simply promising that the government will grow ‘thousands of jobs’, as the Premier has said, is not a plan. The bitter reality in Bermuda today is that people are living the government plan with more than 10,000 Bermudians either unemployed or under-employed and nearly 40 percent of our young people (16-24) without a job.
“By contrast, the One Bermuda Alliance has released a comprehensive ‘jobs and economic turnaround plan’ to create 2,000 jobs and restore confidence and opportunity to our troubled economy.”
