UNITED BERMUDA PARTY REELECTS KIM SWAN AS OPPOSITION LEADER

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HAMILTON 000130 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/WE (JOHN MARBURG AND NIMA ABBASZADEH); STATE FOR EUR/PPD (LEE MCMANIS AND ALISANDE PIPKIN); LONDON (ROB HUBER) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV BD SUBJECT: UNITED BERMUDA PARTY REELECTS KIM SWAN AS OPPOSITION LEADER AS NEW THIRD PARTY OFFICIALLY LAUNCHES REF: HAMILTON 103 HAMILTON 00000130 001.7 OF 002 Summary ¶1. (U) After months of heightened internal dissension, the beleaguered opposition United Bermuda Party (UBP) came together on November 5 to reelect Kim Swan as Opposition Leader, just in time for the reconvening of Parliament on November 6. UBP members had criticized Swan for being too slow to bring about change in the party that has lost every election since 1998. After amending the party's constitution to open up the leadership election process, Swan delivered his vision for reform to the 70+ member Central Committee, but publicly he stresses that the party must work to become a cohesive unit. Meanwhile, UBP defectors chose the same day to launch a third party, the Bermuda Democratic Alliance (BDA). End summary. UBP Unites Behind Leader Kim Swan, Strives to Reconnect with the People ¶2. (U) On November 5, the opposition United Bermuda Party (UBP) reelected Kim Swan as leader in an attempt to resurrect a party that has been hemorrhaging members and support since its first loss at the polls in 1998. Having lost three successive elections since then, the UBP has experienced growing internal agitation for change. It came to a head on September 14 when two sitting members of parliament and one senator, frustrated by the seeming inability of the party to rebrand itself, resigned from the UBP to establish a third party. (See REFTEL.) The defection led Swan to initiate amendments to the party's constitution to open up the leadership selection process with the aim of broadening participation and building party unity. The party's Central Council, composed of more than seventy members, made its choice for leader via secret ballot between former opposition leader Swan (who had resigned in advance of the election) and E. T. (Bob) Richards, Shadow Minister of Finance, after each presented his vision to move the party forward. Swan said after the vote, "The first thing we must do is build a cohesive unit, with the parliamentary group contacting with the branches. We certainly have to consolidate our base. The most important thing for the nine MPs is to show the people that we are working together and start getting on with the people's business. We have to multi-task." Challenger Richards vowed to work with Swan, adding that "~the whole exercise has been a real galvanizing effort for our party~.Now the work begins, together." Competing Third Political Party Launched ¶3. (U) Competing for the limelight, the UBP's September defectors unveiled their new political party, the Bermuda Democratic Alliance (BDA) - also the acronym for Bermuda - on the same day as the UBP reelected Kim Swan. The BDA will not announce a leader or ratify a constitution until the New Year, after a series of town hall meetings and constituency get-togethers. Meanwhile, its two MPs will sit in Parliament. A spokesman for the new 45-member third party claimed that the BDA is "representative of the spectrum of Bermuda racially, economically and professionally. That's what's most exciting." It cited as its core values: broad participation by all Bermudians; a modern justice system; a society that celebrates inclusion, diversity, equal opportunity and human rights; government that is fair, transparent and fiscally responsible; government that will protect Bermuda's assets for the future; an improved education system; and political leadership that acts for the greater good of Bermuda both locally and abroad. Comment ¶4. (SBU) The reelection of Kim Swan as party leader does not mean the end of the UBP's political problems. Swan has much work to do to heal intraparty divisions. He will have to make meaningful changes quickly while altering the perception of the UBP as a "white party" if he hopes to draw support away from the HAMILTON 00000130 002.7 OF 002 ruling Progressive Labor Party (PLP). The formation of the BDA, which will work towards being more broadly representative of the voters than either the UBP or the PLP, adds to the UBP's challenges. Without even an announced leader or constitution, it is too soon to tell whether the BDA will be able to garner enough support to be viable.SHELTON