Dear Sir,

It is now two and a half years since the OBA won the Government after three successive wins for the PLP and to hear them tell it, they need to co-govern right alongside the elected Government.

Too often they posit publicly, they are the voice and conscience of the people.

It is true that some 49 per cent of the electorate should not be ignored, but it also means that they lost.

The thrill of victory means the winner takes all in Bermuda politics and your policies prevail in decision-making as democracy demands in governance.

The losers have to come to terms with defeat notwithstanding its agony. What we now have is a failed administration who now knows everything that is right going forward.

In 1998 the PLP won power with an economy in excellent shape and full employment.

Their eventual decimation of our economy, notably after the more capable and conservative Mr E Cox as Finance Minister, is a matter of public record. The global meltdown called for fiscal prudence and restraint in the management of the public purse and not the government seeking to be the employer of choice.

Exactly where was all the sage wisdom during the overspend, overruns and mismanagement during the global catastrophe when we needed it most?

They dug the seeming bottomless crater of debt and deficit budgets that threaten our autonomy to carry out our own affairs.

This new administration has made mistakes and most probably will make more.

However, they have the demonstrated the ability to turn our fortunes around given a reasonable chance and not the constant attempts to scupper their success to repair the mess left over by a 14-year nightmare of abysmal failure.

The OBA gets my vote to soldier on with the hard work ahead. It is vital to get our people back to work and restore confidence abroad to attract inward investment.

We do not need the constant desire to derail the good work being made because the opposition cannot wait for an election that should be held in 2017.

The Government needs to redeem the time in office to rebuild Bermuda for all of us and forge ahead to recovery, to fiscal sanity and balanced budgets that earn international respect. To be frank, it is simply too much to expect the success needed in just one term.

Detractors of the Government need to cease and desist from calls of shut the Government down on competing talk shows.

This should not be considered free speech when our very survival is at stake and broadcasters should demand callers to be responsible.

Elected members of the Opposition have a role to play in the stability of the country and should not be calling for civil disobedience and shouting at our police in the lawful execution of their duty.

The right of dissent and lawful protest are hallmarks of the rule of law and not nasty vitriol when a different view does not prevail.

Our Government must hear the agony of unemployment over the noise of a defeated PLP and do all they can to get our people back to work.

WAYNE B SCOTT