Khalid Wasi mulls Southampton West Central by-election bid
Open Government campaigner Khalid Wasi could stand in the forthcoming Southampton West Central by-election which he said would be a referendum on whether the United Bermuda Party really wants change.
This week UBP MP Jon Brunson resigned from the seat he has held since 2003 to concentrate on a new job.
Mr. Wasi, who lives in the seat and says his family roots there can be traced back to the 17th century, had lost out to Mr. Brunson for the UBP's nomination before the 2003 election and had then left the party. More recently he has called for the UBP to disband and allow a new Opposition to be formed.
But his plan to field candidates representing the reform-minded All Bermuda Congress in the last election was withdrawn through lack of funding. However he said the 2007 result proved that the UBP was a spent force.
And he has watched with interest the internal debate in the UBP between reformers, some of whom also want a new party, and traditionalists who want little change.
Speaking from Canada, where he has a restaurant, Mr. Wasi said: "This is a great test for that party.
"The question is do they want a reformer in that seat or someone who stays at home? The party will tell the country in this by-election.
"But if the party reaches back into the coffin and pick up some old bones? Someone like Michael Dunkley – why would he come all the way up to Southampton, what new does he bring to the table? He doesn't represent anything in the way of change."
The seat was held with a relatively safe 142-vote majority, up from the 129-vote margin gained in 2003. Mr. Wasi said: "I am considering standing as an ABC candidate, I think people right now need something different."
He will be arriving back on the Island next week and will test the water then.
Mr. Wasi said the departure of Mr. Brunson could also help break the logjam between reformers and traditionalists in the UBP which at one stage earlier this year stood at seven MPs on one side and seven on the other. The by-election must take place within the next two months.
