We are living in a democracy in decline.

I have always believed that public commentary carries a responsibility, and I choose to contribute only when I feel I can add meaningful value to the broader community conversation. It is in that spirit that I felt compelled to write.

Let’s recap the year we have had thus far.

Craig Cannonier’s One Bermuda Alliance and his surrogate, Ben Smith, with special assistant Scott Pearman have played the same cards they used to remove Jeanne Atherden in 2018.

Update the year to 2026 and insert Robert King.

All because they are insecure and thin-skinned individuals who can’t handle losing internal elections.

For those with short memories — Mr Cannonier finished dead last in the 2017 leadership contest, behind Patricia Gordon-Pamplin and Ms Atherden, who emerged victorious.

What followed was a pattern similar to what we have seen recently with the removal of the democratically elected Mr King.

We must remember that Mr Cannonier took two parliamentary newbies (Mr Smith in 2017 and Mr Pearman in 2018) under his wing to attempt to bring him back to the place he desperately wanted to return to. My position was clear at the time — I believed the three of them added no value to the OBA, as they spent their all their energy on backstabbing people.

We all knew Mr Cannonier would lose the 2020 election because he lacks the trust of his own colleagues, let alone the country.

Then that takes us to post-2020 election when Mr Smith was rewarded with the title of Senate leader after he and Leah Scott destroyed the party’s hopes and lost their own seats with a disastrous interview at the beginning of the campaign.

Then they discovered that although Cole Simons was amenable to working with them, he is an independent thinker and mover and could not be controlled and used as their surrogate — so like everyone else who gets in the way, they pushed him towards retiring.

Then Jarion Richardson became leader and that brings us to last year’s election, the one that Mr Richardson called for 13 times in the Reply to the Throne Speech despite knowing that he did not have 36 candidates.

Who can forget when he waited to the last minute to say that he proved Justin Mathias wrong and he did indeed have 36 candidates. But we all know they had to beg for candidates and some of them were literally picked off the street.

Which leads to the grand finale. Eight years after Messrs Cannonier, Pearman and Smith started their alliance, they stripped another leader of his democratically elected title and put our last great hope up as leader.

In short, that is the OBA. That is why OBA has no solutions for you. They’re too busy fighting over a throne that wields no power.

The OBA, having lost three consecutive elections, has come to resemble the very party it once criticised. Increasingly, it has become difficult to distinguish between them and the Progressive Labour Party.

The men at the top of both parties only care about power and position, and anyone who is a threat to their world order is simply eliminated.

We are at a critical point in our country’s history. We can either return to being the good-natured people that we have been known to be, or we can continue down this road of overthrowing leaders who are not of our choosing.

Political parties do not exist in the Bermuda Constitution. You elect individuals as Members of Parliament based on a first-past-the-post system.

The fact that we overlay that system with political parties is just something we have enshrined with a trust system. That system is clearly broken.

Neither the PLP nor the OBA are representative of any political ideology, and we have allowed them to be filled with individuals who are subservient to their leadership structure.

This is not the fault of the political parties. It is our fault as voters.

We have allowed people to be elected to Parliament because of the party that we support, not based on the individuals’ credentials to do the job and represent our interests.

We need a huge reset!

The Premier has confirmed that we had an influx of $1 billion in new tax revenue this year.

Who is going to benefit from that windfall?

Now, as the year comes to an end, we see David Burt losing the populist narrative to continue to push his preferred successor, and while we suffer the consequences of his leadership style, the PLP leadership election remains postponed.

As a result, the country is now being asked to wait until the current legal matter is fully resolved before any leadership transition can take place.

We all know how long the appeal process can take.

This is disturbing because we all know that there is money flowing around funding lavish parties, town halls, TED Talk-like discussions and now hundreds of thousands of dollars in lawyer bills.

I believe Curtis Dickinson’s campaign is funded by business supporters and the upper-class Blacks in the PLP who believe it is their God-given role to rule and tell others how to think and vote. They are learning the hard way that it isn’t that easy, and they are resorting to signing up thousands of new members to stack the deck.

It is disingenuous, revolting and disrespectful to the Progressive Group and founders of the PLP who established the party to fight against the elite. To say you love a party in one breath and to sue it in the next is not what you do to a party you love and people you claim are family.

I had serious concerns about Mr Dickinson winning as I believe it would destabilise the country even before he sued his party. This legal case validates the concerns that he cannot form a Cabinet let alone form a government in Parliament. Now he and his advisers have cemented his fate and legacy within the PLP.

If David Burt wants to put a pause/postponement on leadership, why can’t we as a country postpone party politics until both parties get their acts together and start to respect their own constitutions?

What is gone in politics is clearly the respect that these individuals have for one another and the respect they have for the Bermudian public, who at this point are clearly null and void.

To be a public servant is a calling and an honour and those who don’t recognise that need to exit stage left.

I believe it is clear that Mr Burt doesn’t have the confidence of the majority of Parliament, and I believe we know who does.

I believe we know that Mr Burt doesn't have the confidence of majority of the electorate and once again I believe we know who does.

The Premier’s last option is to call another election, which I am sure the Governor would laugh at, but I welcome it!

We must be bold and courageous to stand for what is right and who the right people of goodwill are; that will support the future rebuilding of this nation and provide the relief to those who need it the most.

Enough is enough, and we must put this childish and foolish behaviour to rest.

• Justin Mathias is a former chairman of the One Bermuda Alliance. He ran as an independent candidate for the House of Assembly in the last election