Bermuda’s Political Structure
Date Posted: Wednesday, July 05, 2006Author: Christen Pears
Politics
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Bermuda is the oldest self-governing British Overseas Territory. Its first parliament was convened in 1620 and over the years it has assumed increasing responsibility for the government of the island.
This culminated in the introduction of a new constitution 1968. It provided the island with responsibility for internal self-government, while the British government retains responsibility for external affairs, internal security and the police.
Queen Elizabeth II is Bermuda’s head of state and appoints a governor to represent her. Sir John Vereker, the current Governor, has held office since April 2003.
Bermuda’s system of government is similar to that of the UK. There are two legislative chambers: the House of Assembly, which has elected members, and the Senate, which is an appointed upper house.
The main functions of the legislature are to pass laws, to provide the means of carrying on the work of the Government by taxation and to scrutinize government policy and administration.
The House of Assembly sits for five years unless dissolved earlier and consists of 36 members, each one representing one of Bermuda’s 36 constituencies.
The island’s boundaries were re-drawn in 2001 to abolish the system of dual-seat constituencies which contained significantly differing numbers of voters. Provision was made for a Boundaries Commission to sit every seven years to examine and, if necessary, revise the constituency boundaries.
The Senate acts as a reviewing body and is comprised of 11 members appointed by the Governor. Five are appointed on the recommendation of the Premier and represent the governing party. Three are appointed on the recommendation of the Leader of the Opposition and three are appointed as Independents. A President and Vice President are elected by the full Senate from among the Independent senators.
Bermuda operates a party political system based on the Westminster model. The leader of the party which wins the most seats at a general election or has the support of a majority of members in the House of Assembly is asked by the Governor to form a government. He selects a cabinet, which is the executive arm of the Governement and consists of members from both chambers. The largest minority party becomes the official opposition with its own leader and shadow cabinet.
There are two major political parties in Bermuda: the United Bermuda Party (UBP) and the Progressive Labour Party (PLP). The PLP won the most recent elections held in July 2003 and the current Premier is The Hon W. Alexander Scott.
The Cabinet consists of the Premier and at least six other members of the legislature. They are assigned responsibilities for government departments and other business and are responsible to the legislature.
The Cabinet’s functions are the final determination of policies, the supreme control of the Government and the co-ordination of government departments.
For most of Bermuda’s history, only men who owned property of a certain value and above were eligible to vote and run as parliamentary candidates. This excluded the vast majority of Bermudians and changes in the franchise were slow.
It was not until 1944 that women were given the vote. The general election of 1968 was the first conducted by universal suffrage although only those who were 21 and over could vote. The voting age was lowered to 18 in 1993.