I'm not sure if anyone's noticed, but the Bermuda Government has gone green, just not in the way many would have hoped; they've gone PLP green.
There has been a definite shift, slowly at first but now I think they're all in, in producing Bermuda Government materials (as opposed to PLP party materials) in the PLP's party colour of green.
The Bermuda Government's colour has been blue as far as I'm aware. I'm not sure if there is an official statement or anything to that effect, but the green that is everywhere now is without a doubt new to Government publications, and is clearly intended not just to blur, but obliterate, the separation between party (PLP), and The Bermuda Government.
This is an important separation that must be respected. The line where politics and policy crosses is a bit of a grey area, but there's been some serious creep.
During the election we even saw the Premier's Press Secretary making overtly political defenses, invoking party, when he represents the Premier of Bermuda not the PLP's Party Leader.
As ridiculous as it looks, I can tolerate the green ties and dresses that were clearly ordered for the opening of Parliament, at polling stations on election day etc. (It just feels like a high school election to me not a national one).
But just for one day, particularly ceremonial ones like the opening of Parliament, it would be nice to remove the overt politicking and subtle messaging.
And I HATE the party pins, of either side, UBP or PLP. I also dislike the Bermuda flag ones as well on politicians, because, as Barack Obama so adeptly noted, the American flag pins on politicians have become a "substitute for true patriotism".
This is all about branding, marketing and subliminal messaging, and the infusion of party branding into official Government materials absolutely goes too far.
I'd picked up on bits and pieces prior to the election, but it really jumped out to me with the budget, the cover of which bore a more than passing resemblance to the PLP's 2008 Election Platform document cover, heavy on the green with light and dark green arc's, and was a complete departure from the 2007 Budget cover.
Then, just the other day, I received in the mail the Community Education Spring Term Registration document, that was again heavy on green for the first time I can recall (I seem to remember it being an orange insert in the past) with, identically to the PLP's platform, green headers and footers on the inside pages with interchangeable black and green font colours on the text.
It reminded me of those cheesy Election Progress Report documents as well.
It really is striking how similar the documents look. This is clearly not a coincidence, and there is clearly a shift towards infusing the PLP brand look and feel into Official Government materials.
It's not just in materials either. There has been a real creeping politicisation of the civil service over the PLP's term, which ramped up massively in the past year or so. This crested, or so I thought, with Government vehicles driving around on election day with PLP flags in the windows and civil servants holding signs and wearing bandanas and t-shirts into work. This went on for a few days after the election as well.
That is a terrible breach of protocol by civil servants who are sworn to act in a non-political manner, but know that this is all about proving your loyalty now, and are watching their work pushed out to PLP affiliated consultants and contractors. It's either get in line or get out of the way.
Historically there has been a fair amount of respect given to the line between party and Government, but to have Government materials now printed with PLP branding is a real tipping point and doesn't bode well for further erosions of separations between party business and official Government business.
It shows a real lack of respect for the institution of the Bermuda Government, and undermines the checks and balances built into the Westminster system.
