April 9, 2012Dear Sir,A reporter recently asked me whether political parties should be regulated and further, how would they look under such revised perimeters?When I was first introduced to architectural technology, one of the first things I remember learning was that design follows purpose. Tell me what you want and how you want your building to function, and then I can draw the design to accommodate.Politically there is no real difference, the phenomenon is the same, every political construct has a function. That's why I am so uncomfortable when I think of how and what our current function is and for what purposes does it serve. To spare the pen, let me say that our present system is designed to serve a special interest group. The objective of this particular party design, in such case, is to manipulate the public in order to win the contract to govern and thereby control the proceeds and benefits attached to governing. It's easier for those with financial agendas, which need government cooperation, to gain the consent when the ultimate decision makers are minimised to a manageable few. It doesn't matter who the special interest is, the fact is the system is inherently built so as to be controlled by a few and the level of arbitrary happenings will vary from oligarch to oligarch. Nice king you get to keep a couple of barrels of potatoes to sell, bad king you're lucky to get enough to eat.The legacy of the human struggle for freedom has been to be against kingship, monarchist and rulers of every kind or under any name were people are disconnected from the political processes. The only remedy for an oligarchy is democracy. Opening up the systems to allow the populace to have real inclusion frustrates the ability of a political system to be manipulated by a few. The function of a party should be to provide an organised platform to address the concerns of the populace. There format should be open to entertain the ideas and input of the masses and not a club with a restricted view.1. Parties need to be subordinate to the Human Rights Act. Every elected or non-elected person should be entitled to express and if needed, have the right to struggle to attain his/her own political opinion or vision within any party, without repercussions.2. The parliamentary electoral process needs to be controlled by government and working independent of the parties. The electoral process needs to become a public process, which allows for full participation of the entire electorate, with rules defined for the general public. Which means any person of age should be able to be nominated for a party by his/her constituents or seek endorsement directly through them.3. By consensus the majority will rule, which means also whatever ever group/party that can form the majority in parliament will have the greater sway in forming government. Notwithstanding whatever government formed must be seen as inclusive if not proportional.4. The entire parliament should be supported by a Freedom of Information Act.5. All political donations made by companies or corporations should be publicly disclosed.Can you imagine a political party whose function is to purely serve the ideological needs of the country as opposed to acting as a club supporting an elite group's agenda? Can you imagine a government filled with persons elected because of their ability and their stands for truth and honesty, instead of being selected for loyalty to the regime; where the ethos supports strength of character rather than an ethos that supports personality disorders veiled by party loyalty. If parties were regulated the outcome would be better for Bermuda.KHALID WASI