March 20, 2012Dear Sir,This is in reply to Makai Dickerson’s letter published March 19. Sometimes one has to smile at the thoughts of people. Mr Dickenson mentions the split in the United Bermuda Party to which I would like to say that any sensible organisation or group will assess their status, and if failing, will regroup and revamp which is the only sensible thing to do. This is what members of the UBP and the Bermuda Democratic Alliance did and, as a consequence, the One Bermuda Alliance was formed. Don’t forget in 2003 when Dame Jennifer Smith was kicked out of her position as Premier just hours after winning that election, but apparently, that was just fine they wanted to change their status. In my book, that was the most deceitful, calculated political manoeuvring in the lowest form. Personally, I always wondered how a person could stay in a party after being treated so disgracefully. But, I guess one needs a job.When it comes to the UBP’s two remaining members, I am afraid they have missed the boat as they will serve no purpose whatsoever and will only split votes. If they really had the country’s welfare at heart, they would have joined the OBA. You also must remember that not all UBPers were for this split, so that in itself tells me the splitters wanted change from the old UBP, and yes, like an alcoholic that has been dried out and has become a new person, the OBA has dried itself out from the old UBP and has become a new party whether you want to believe it or not.Another question Mr Dickinson asks is, “Where does this leave us in the upcoming election,” and then goes on to say, “It leaves us pretty much in the same place we were in the last election, which was a choice between the ruling Party and the Opposition made up of the same base as the UBP, with an influx of new faces”. Has he forgotten that the Progressive Labour Party are now laced with former UBP crossovers and new faces? So what is the difference? What is the problem? And, as far as the OBA sitting members remaining in their seats, are not the crossovers to the PLP remaining in their seats after being elected under a UBP banner? Where is your logic?Another statement by Mr Dickinson is: “While I will admit that the PLP have made mistakes in their governance I will also stand by them for the many achievements they have made”. What amazes me is that the mistakes the PLP have made are so enormous, they far outweigh the good they have done and it is unbelievable that people are so blind to this fact! Yes we are dealing with very hard times due to the economic downturn, but because of the PLP’s mismanagement, squandering and incompetent handling of the public purse and the local economy, our situation would not have been so drastic had they done otherwise.It is obvious Mr Dickinson is a staunch PLP supporter and that his/her vision is clouded by PLP propaganda. Therefore, he sees only what he wants to see which is unfortunate. One must be able to see the difference between competence and incompetence, good governance and bad governance regardless what party they are affiliated with. Don’t be like the mothers who say, “Not my darling little Johnny” when little Johnny is the biggest brat and bully in school!As far as the OBA platform is concerned, go on line and visit the OBA website and look at their platform. Mr Editor, in all actuality, people really don’t care who runs this country just as long as it is run right and for the people. A country should not be run for the benefit of a select few. In 1998, Bermuda needed a change from the stagnant UBP and we got it, but even though we needed this change at that time, one cannot deny the fact the UBP took care of Bermuda financially and kept us out of debt. They even left play money for the PLP when they handed over the public purse. Almost 14 years later and one $1.4 billion in debt not a red cent in the kitty, they are now robbing Peter to pay Paul no one can’t tell me that we don’t need a change from this destructive, useless excuse of a Government that we have now. They are killing us!PAT FERGUSONWarwick