Jarion Richardson stepped down from his position as leader of the One Bermuda Alliance and leader of the official parliamentary opposition. We should appreciate what at times is a thankless job: wearing the hat of a losing party while trying to serve the greater good of the country. Hopefully, while pondering next moves, Mr Richardson’s services may be contradicted; it is also done in the spirit of achieving that greater good.

The last election should serve as a bellwether for things to come. The obvious fiasco was that the combined but divided opposition received the greatest percentage of the vote. Yet, singularly, it holds fewer than one third of the seats in the House of Assembly.

Right away, the question that should emerge is, do we need a stronger OBA as an opposition party or a stronger opposition as an alternative government? The two are mutually exclusive.

Having a stronger OBA does not automatically equate with having a stronger opposition — at least not one that could be an alternative government or the proverbial government-in-waiting. However, having a combined opposition does carry that possibility.

The logical choice for leadership of the opposition movement, therefore, is to have a leadership that can unite the opposition forces.

Without demeaning any of the players who have been notorious for being actors on the public stage as candidates, none come to mind as viable or potential facilitators of what is an obvious need as a unifier.

Yes, everyone has a part of what is needed.

The OBA, for example, has perhaps the strongest organisational track, and there are many with various leadership skill sets in certain environments. All of which is good, but not possessing the ability to galvanise a common vision is like having a lot of spare parts but no vehicle. Worse, without a destination, you won't know whether to build a boat or a car.

The propensity at this moment within the OBA is to look among its ranks to find a replacement. You can bet two or three of the sitting MPs are vying for the position, and that in itself may be a problem.

Let’s take the position that none of the existing MPs can do any better than Mr Richardson. The task is not simply to be an organisational master, like taking over a car dealership that has gone flat. But the brand has lost its appeal or is no longer functional. No manager is going to be effective without changing the brand or the functionality, no matter how good a manager they are.

What if what is needed is not already within party walls? Further, it is more likely that the vision for a greater Bermuda does not exist within any existing party construct. It is again very likely that any person emerging from the present set of politicians will only repeat the malaise.

What the OBA needs is generally what Bermuda desperately needs — a transformative figure. So, rather than being simply paltry, why not search for what Bermuda needs? It has been done before: I can recall John Barritt giving up a safe seat when he still had zest to serve.

The world is at a stage of dramatic changes, while there are still fundamental issues that remain unresolved. A new geopolitical world is emerging with new opportunities, issues and focus, while our leadership is stuck in the modes of framework more suited to the 1960s. It is a sad phenomenon to live and experience the struggles of our ancestors, only for them to be inherited by a generation that is not much unlike those we fought against.

This world generation is living in an era similar to the early 20th century, when Germany had global aspirations of being the world hegemon. At the end of that brutal and racist episode, many ethnic groups were targeted. The Gypsies, the Jews, the Russians and many ethnicities were victims. Today, for the cause of an American design to maintain global dominance, we are witnessing another holocaust — and again others pay the price. We have Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan all as victims, but most noticeably, the deliberate starvation and slaughter of tens of thousands of Palestinians.

The whole world is complicit, with this visual holocaust streamed daily on our mobile phones through social media. Sadly, the Arab neighbours are the worst, but so are we of the diaspora and all those who understand the trauma of being victimised and treated as a lesser species simply because of our ethnicity.

After a 400-year battle for freedom, or having deplored the horror of the acknowledged Holocaust between 1939 and 1945, what happened to the slogan “Never again”? The churches, the synagogues, the temples and mosques should be enraged. Where is their anger?

Our politicians no longer have a moral compass, and we can no longer look to them to guide this country, let alone this world, because they are influenced more by industry than moral conscience.