Bermuda has had a problem since the move to party politics. The Country has seen a decline in the quality of candidates. There are members of the House of Assembly right now who would have difficulty finding a good job. Yet they sit in the House, elected by the people and paid by the people to do the Country's business. If we would not hire them to work for us, then why do we elect them to represent us? Some of the decline in talent has come about because people of ability have shunned party politics as too dirty. Becoming a politician is also, of course, the fastest way to make yourself a social outcast these days. That's why you so often hear, "Don't invite any politicians.'' The events of the last few years will have convinced most possible candidates of quality to stay away from party politics. If you join the PLP you are probably going to have huge financial problems and the habit of the UBP of setting loose a propaganda squad to destroy anyone who dares to disagree would frighten away most self-respecting people.

But the parties' candidate selectors must take some of the blame. Too often they fill safe seats with people who have little or no contribution to make.

Sometimes the candidates are just the party faithful who fail to understand that their hard work should not lead to a House seat because they do not have what it takes. Their lack of preparation and their lack of stature is all too evident in House debates and in some of the events reported from the House.

The amount of nonsense talked and the amount of misinformation spread in House debates is frightening. Then too the Governor has taken the unusual step of lecturing Parliamentarians about their bad behaviour in Parliament.

Safe seats should be used by the parties to elect to the House people who have the talent to become good Cabinet ministers. Sometimes the demands of politics justify the use of people in marginal seats who can win but have little else to offer. That alone lowers the level of ability making it almost mandatory to put talent in the safe seats.

Yet sometimes the candidates are virtually unemployed or have failed in their personal lives and look to elected office for employment. Just look at how many members of the House today have bad financial problems which are obvious and who serve in the House because they need the money. People who are virtually bankrupt are very vulnerable to all sorts of undesirable influences.

That has to be reflected in the service they give the Country. Do we want to be represented by ambitious failures? Can they represent people effectively? Are they adequate role models? These are all questions people should ask before they vote. Too often they only ask whether the candidate is UBP or PLP.

We should be choosing winners and not losers to represent us. We should also be very careful to elect people who can do things for the Country and not people who are looking for the Country to do things for them. Too often these days we are represented by losers or by those who ask what the Country can do for them.