Dear Sir,

Last week Paula Cox announced that she intends to stand as a Progressive Labour Party candidate in the constituency where she lost in the last General Election in 2012.

Ms Cox also stated that she has the backing of the PLP branch in Devonshire North West, Constituency 14, but that the branch was told later by the PLP executive that Ms Cox could be perceived as a “liability to the party”.

I am puzzled by this Machiavellian series of events.

With Ms Cox having secured the branch’s endorsement, why would the PLP executive overturn her nomination and give it to Wayne Caines?

And why hasn’t Ms Cox simply filed a writ in court to demand that the PLP executive enforce the constitution that governs the candidate selection process?

I will be the first to admit that I do not know what the rules of the party are, nor how, when or if the rules have subsequently been changed — again — to outmanoeuvre Ms Cox.

But what I would like to sincerely know is: Why are you coming back, Ms Cox?

What is it that you would like to achieve that you failed to achieve in 14 years of political office and all those years as a Cabinet minister ending with being both finance minister and Premier of Bermuda?

And, most importantly, what do you hope to achieve now Ms Cox?

Perhaps by understanding just what this means to you on behalf of the people of Bermuda, then I can determine whether the decision of the PLP executive, and yes Mr Burt’s decision, is both fair and reasonable — or not.

On the other hand, why would the former junior finance minister in a Cox Administration, whom the former premier herself brought into the PLP inner circle, show no respect and/or regard to her on this matter?

Surely, this matter could have been handled in a more diplomatic and less publicly brutal manner. Surely, Mr Burt, even if he sees her as a “political liability”, should have had the public sensitivity and prudence to note that if Ms Cox runs as an independent, the PLP vote gets split and weakens, thus making it more likely that the One Bermuda Alliance will retain the seat.

And finally, just how many females are running in this 2017 General Election under the PLP banner?

And, are they being given the equal number of opportunities within the PLP to make real change and a difference — to move the party into being and adopting much more inclusive and centralist policies?

VALIRIE MARCIA AKINSTALL

London, England