March 20, 2012

Dear Sir,

I’m a One Bermuda Alliance supporter and will be a candidate for them in the next election. I read the long letter from Progressive Labour Party supporter Makai Dickerson in today’s edition of your newspaper, suggesting that the best course of action in these troubled times would be to return the PLP to office. I disagree with all my heart, and would like to put another opinion in front of the Bermuda public. Makai tries hard to associate the OBA with the United Bermuda Party, as other people in the PLP are doing constantly. The reality of life in little Bermuda is that anyone who is interested in politics is likely to be involved with one of the existing parties. If you form another party, you’re going to get a few people who are new to politics, perhaps, but most of them are bound to have been involved before.

The PLP’s not exempt from that one of its own Cabinet Ministers was a leader of the UBP, and several other members of the UBP defected to the PLP. If they took a set of beliefs, or an attitude away with them from the UBP, the PLP certainly haven’t made a big deal about it. Same with the OBA we welcomed the knowledge and experience the former UBP members brought with them, but by joining us, they agreed that they would embrace OBA beliefs, and the OBA attitude towards politics, not try to replace ours with the UBP’s. I joined the OBA because I believe they represent a new beginning in politics. Nothing I have seen or heard since I have been involved tells me that we’re working on anybody’s agenda but our own. It’s an agenda of change and inclusion that I think is new in politics in Bermuda, and that I think has an excellent chance of transforming politics in Bermuda. Among other things, we want an end to the unpleasantness and the falsity of politics here. We want a brand of politics in which the voters, not the politicians, are the stars of the show. We want an open Government, which tells the public the truth about our problems, and looks for the public’s help whenever it can to solve them.

The OBA has never been shy about telling the public what we stand for. For instance, we gave the public a good and thorough insight into many of the things we would do if we were asked to form a Government in our reply to the Budget Speech. If Makai hasn’t read it, I’d recommend that he should. It’s easy to find (try www.oba.bm and click Hot Topics), and it might change his mind about a thing or two. One of them might be just how poor the track record of the PLP that he refers to in such glowing terms really is. This Country is embroiled in the most awful mess it has ever been in, after 13 or 14 years of PLP governance. The economy, education, health, tourism, crime … everyone knows our problems by heart by now. The PLP have certainly done some good things … no one can take that from them. But if you look at their record as a whole, they have done pretty dismally. If I can take a leaf from Makai’s book and use a metaphor, a couple of sporty moves don’t make up for losing the game!

NANDI DAVIS

OBA Candidate for St Georges West #2