Vote for a sound future for SVG, and our youth
MOST VINCENTIANS are looking forward to the end of a very contentious election campaign with voting day on Thursday, and victory day for one or the other side on Friday of this week. For those who have campaigned lustily and voted enthusiastically, the results of the Thursday vote will bring either elation or disappointment dependent on which side they are. For many other Vincentians however, irrespective of the results or whether they voted, there will be a huge sigh of welcome relief that it has all come to an end. Election campaigns are no longer what they used to be for try as hard as one might, the turbulence of the campaign leaves little room for escape. Each election is more turbulent than the one before, loud music and loudspeakers all day and into the wee hours of the morning making little room for reflection and rest. Added to this is the traffic problems caused by the criss-crossing of vehicular traffic. A plus for bus operators is that they would have made some money during this elections season.
There was a time when election campaigns were based on issues facing the country and citizens, but those days are long gone. While there are still some remnants of that, today theatre and entertainment appear to be the main drawing cards, and it is hard to distinguish a major political rally from a massive entertainment show put on by promoters.
Even the New Democratic Party which used to be critical of the governing party has joined in the showtime of today.
Election campaigns of today are massively financed undertakings. It is interesting to hear a former government minister, once himself a beneficiary of the scheme, express his concerns about the millions of dollars being expended in this manner. Yet it is not the messenger and whether he is correct or not on which we should focus. The concern should be on the message itself, and we are sure that such concern is shared by many citizens. Certainly, there must be more worthy and rewarding ways on which to expend such sums. Let us mark this down for a post-election discussion for, surely, the country suffers by such misadventure. The issue of campaign financing regulations come readily to mind.
At the end of the campaign the choices would have been put before us and the privacy of the polling booth on Thursday. We are all individually responsible for our choices.
But by Friday, it should be all over and one party will emerge victorious. It may not be the one of our individual choice, but we must RESPECT the choice of the majority. That has been, increasingly, a problem in in the last few elections but we must remember that democracy can only be based on the will of the majority. Continued political bickering and the refusal to accept the expressed will of the majority will do neither our country nor ourselves any good.
Let us use this plebiscite as a watershed in our country’s history and endeavour to do our best to contribute to the development of our multi-island nation and to providing a future for our youth!
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