Khalid Wasi plans to run in Pembroke South East at next General Election
Pembroke South East voters may well have to choose between four candidates at the next general election, as businessman and political activist Raymond Davis, also known as Khalid Wasi, plans to run as an independent candidate.“I’ve reached that stage and age and I’ve had a lot of ideals and a lot of things that I think is very good for the country,” he told The Royal Gazette.“And I don’t think that Bermuda should miss what I have to offer simply because the party processes and selection processes in particular are so obsolete that they prevent people who want to make stands, but rather favour people who are patriotic and loyal.”He added: “I think that Bermuda right now needs real direction. And I have a lot to offer in that regard.”The ruling party’s Pembroke South East branch nominated Rolfe Commissiong over area MP Ashfield DeVent to be the party’s candidate.The opposition One Bermuda Alliance has not yet announced who will be their candidate for the area. And it is understood that Ashfield DeVent, is mulling over a decision to run there as an independent.Mr Wasi has been a member of the United Bermuda Party, the Progressive Labour Party and made a short lived attempt to form a new political organisation called All Bermuda Congress.He said yesterday that he was a card-carrying member of the PLP and had put his name forward but failed to make it into the pool of approved ruling party candidates.In 1987 he ran as an independent for Pembroke East Central, but did not succeed.In 1990 he was an approved candidate for the United Bermuda Party but was not adopted as a candidate by a branch.And in 2009, he also ran as an independent in a by-election to replace Jon Brunson as the MP for Southampton West Central.“I would like to alter the system so that it caters to freedom of speech, it rewards people because they make stands not because they’re loyal,” he said. “And the only way we can do that is by changing the paradigm.“Right now, the party defines the people and what we need is for the people to define the party.”He proposes a system of “national primaries” whereby all constituents are given the opportunity to choose who they want to run for each party.Prospective candidates would seek nominations directly from the constituents. A constituency-wide vote would determine by simple majority the candidates who would represent their party in the general election.“All I am saying is make the electoral process, not a private process, but the law of the land.“Once they’ve done that coupled with a few other things such as an extension of human rights so that people can stand and speak in parliament without any repercussions, no matter what party they belong to then we’ll be well on the way to being a full, live participatory democracy.“And that’s my lifelong aim. That’s my ambition. I’ve reached the stage where the only way I can make an input is to fight as an independent.”Mr. Wasi has been involved in the area for 35 years, having lived there, operated a laundromat, and “developed much of Middletown”.“Recently, I took nine young men from the area to Senegal,” he said. “I’ve lived in the area. So all of the experiences that we’ve had, I have lived through it.”He is optimistic about his chances of success this time around.“My chances are extremely good as far as I am concerned,” he said. “In particular, I don’t see any rationale as to why the OBA to even consider running a candidate in that area.“It’s a question of whether they are One Bermuda Alliance or One Bermuda Party. If they say they are One Bermuda Alliance, everything that’s in their platform are arguments I articulate anyway.“What we want is fixed term elections, democratise the country so that people have more say. Is that what One Bermuda wants or do they want to maintain the current system? I don’t see a rationale for them running.”Mr. Wasi insisted that he could not run under the One Bermuda Alliance. “I do not want to run under any political party banner.“I would like to influence the way parties are formed and how they develop. My mandate is to reconstruct the parties, to destroy the ways in which parties operate.”