Three become two

It was just 18 months ago that a 3rd political party, the Bermuda Democratic Alliance (BDA) was formed (I wrote about it here). Yet yesterday BDA and the countries main opposition party, the United Bermuda Party (UBP) merged.

On the face of it, it appears a strange decision. Yes, the BDA’s hopes of getting into government within the next decade are slim if non-existent but politics is a marathon and not a sprint. From an outsiders point of view and from what I had read the BDA had some common sense ideas and they offered a different perspective outside the current prejudices.

The UBP is stuck in the past, which was the reason why some of it’s more open minded party members and MP’s defected to start the BDA in the first place but instead of ploughing their own furrow, the BDA have given up their independence and rejoined forces with the UBP. There is a small political gene pool here and loyalty seems thin on the ground as regularly ministers flee across political divides.

The new combined party will be called One Bermuda Alliance and will be led, at least initially, by ex-journalist and retired lawyer John Barritt.

Frankly it doesn’t matter what it’s called, what Bermuda needs is an effective alternative to the PLP, a party that leads by example and conquers and not divides.