In a Letter to the Editor dated December 11, 2015, Eva Hodgson argues that party politics has been detrimental to the black community: “With the introduction of party politics, all of that changed. The black community as a community no longer mattered. The only thing that mattered was ‘the party’ and specific individuals within the party. Clearly, the leadership did not need to have the courage to challenge the existing power structure. The fringe benefits of leadership were all that mattered to be fought over.”

It’s fair to say that a great number of black Bermudians came to this conclusion during the 2012 election, and they therefore decided to vote One Bermuda Alliance or not vote at all. Ironically, Dr Hodgson made her opposing view very clear in 2012 when she wrote: “I believe that the OBA represents 95 per cent of the white community, so whether it is or not the old UBP, why would I vote for those who represent those who have, in my opinion, done so much damage to this community?”

Whether or not you agree with Dr Hodgson’s rationale, her question deserves further consideration. If the black community doesn’t really matter to the Progressive Labour Party, then it absolutely does matter if the OBA is the UBP. It matters just as much if the PLP today is a distortion of the party originally founded. Accepting this fundamental point, both parties should thus be judged on their present merits and not their historical baggage.

Dr Hodgson’s letter from December 29, 2014, helps us to evaluate her earlier question even more. In that letter she writes: “Most in the black community have voted PLP because we assume (perhaps naively) — based on PLP electioneering rhetoric — that they will represent the interest of the black community.”

Here lies the frustrating contradiction: those blacks who choose not to vote PLP for the very reasons cited by Dr Hodgson get branded by the PLP as race traitors, Uncle Toms and animals doing the bidding of their slave master. In other words, you’re damned if you do vote PLP, and you’re damned if you don’t.

Consider for a moment the demise of the UBP and the rise of the OBA. There is little doubt that the OBA is a better party. Far from perfect, but definitely a vast improvement on the UBP. But even if you disagree with this assessment, the key lesson here is that the UBP collapsed and evolved only after voters made clear that they weren’t going to just hand their vote over to them any more.

The same paradigm shift needs to happen within the PLP. As Dr Hodgson put it in last week’s letter, the PLP governed for years, yet ignored the historical, economic and psychological structures that were imposed to create the existing disparities. If anything, the recent resignations/demotions in the Shadow Cabinet, the Opposition leader’s repetitive legal challenges and the PLP’s non-response to the recent Auditor reports, only confirm that the fringe benefits remain the PLP’s primary focus.

At this point, it’s blatantly obvious that, as was the case with the UBP in 2007, it is long past time for the PLP to reform or die. Now I don’t mean “reform” by promoting unrealistic economic ideas, concocting wild conspiracy theories, increasing divisive rhetoric, pretending that corruption is being addressed or proclaiming that the OBA is the work of the Devil. I am instead referring to having vision, ethics and policies that actually result in realistic solutions that can address our present and future challenges.

As has always been the case, Bermuda needs a strong Opposition that can rationally hold the Government accountable, and not an irrational one that spews dishonest rhetoric that is intended to force an early election. But as long as the PLP believes that cleverly worded, divisive rhetoric is more effective than competence and ethical conduct, we will continue to have an ineffective Opposition that should fold just like the UBP.

Should voters fail to demand that genuine reform, the PLP will just escalate the rhetoric, which is precisely what it has been doing since the last General Election. Consequently, Bermuda would be worse off for it.