A former UBP supporter declared last night that the time was ripe for a new political party ? after claiming that the Opposition's chances of ever getting re-elected were now "slim to nil".

Khalid Wasi, once a vocal member of the United Bermuda Party, told : "I think that the UBP has lost all hope of having any electability for any election coming up any time soon or in the distant future."

He described the party's current crisis ? following the high-profile resignations of three members ? as being a "monumental" moment for the country, giving it a "useful opportunity" to move away from race politics. And he likened the situation to the formation of the United Bermuda Party in 1964 when "it became clear that Bermuda could not continue the way it was".

"This is an opportunity for Bermuda to get it right and form an organisation based purely on ideology and based on a political model which would be better for Bermuda in its current guise," he said.

Mr. Wasi revealed that he and others were trying to convince those who had quit the UBP ? Gywneth Rawlins, Jamahl Simmons and David Dunkley ? to join a new movement.

"There aren't many options and Bermuda can't live without an opposition," he said. "I'm not here trying to prescribe what I think could be a potential opposition. I'm trying to say this is an opportunity to create something better than what we have got. Period.

"It could become the new way forward but people have to be convinced about that. I believe it's very, very electable."

Mr. Wasi, also known as Raymond Davis, estimated that the Opposition needed between 26 and 27 percent of the black electorate on its side to secure an election win.

"The hope back in 2006 when they put Wayne Furbert there was that they may be able to attract that. All of that strategy has failed. I don't believe they can mount a campaign that can counter the effects of what has happened in the last (few) weeks.

"The extreme black voter will say: 'See, I told you so, it's been like that all along'. The moderate who might have had a little hope will see the likes of what happened with Gwyneth Rawlins, with David Dunkley and with Jamahl Simmons and they'll see all of these things and they'll put it together and they will simply say: 'There is no voice over there, no black voice which is credible'."

He said the resignations confirmed the suspicions of many that unless blacks were prepared to kow-tow or be passive to whites they would not progress in the UBP.

And he claimed the racism in the party was "structural" because the grassroots support was largely white. "Once you get outside the caucus and the parliamentary group to the executive and the branches it's all white."

Mr. Wasi, who joined the UBP in 1990 and left for good in 2002 after Jon Brunson was chosen over him to stand in his home constituency, said he was marginalised within the party when he began to talk the "language of empowerment".

"I experienced systemic racism," he said. "The culture of the party is more geared to cater to the sustenance of the white community and not the black community."

Another former party member ? who asked not to be named ? predicted that the UBP would be "toast" in the next election. "It's a tough sell trying to go into the black community and selling it," said the source. But they added: "I wouldn't say unelectable because a lot can change. But it's the fact that they are not dealing with the problem. They are not addressing it at all."

An unnamed PLP member said the UBP had "sealed the deal" for the Government for the next two elections. "If they are now being branded as racist, even if it's unfounded, the seed is there.

"It will bring out more PLP (voters) than ever before. They'll say: 'You think we want "them racists" to rule us'. Any apathetic voters will come out of the woodwork now."

Historian Eva Hodgson said: "I would assume that the UBP could not win an election at this moment. I think that Wayne Furbert has been speaking with the voice of Michael Dunkley or whoever. Whatever attractiveness he might have had, I'm going to say it's pretty limited now."