(My letter in today's Pretoria News)
On 18 May the centre of political power will move to the voters, indeed the place where it belongs in a democracy, when they have the opportunity to vote. The power of political parties is determined by the electorate who, by making a cross on a ballot paper, determines who represents them. Let us remind ourselves that local government is the government closest to the people.
As I see it voters have three choices in this election.
There is a multitude of small parties that will not even get more than 2% of the vote. These parties elevate marginal interests while losing sight of the national context. Destined to become mere foot notes of history, their influence on the national discourse is insignificant.
The power hungry ANC is another option. With only the race card left and no service delivery successes to show this party threatens to turn our country into a failed state. Betraying its ideals of the past it is not the party of Albert Luthuli or Nelson Mandela any more. It is certainly not the party with which our future can be trusted.
As an opposition party and a party of government the DA is option number three. With an impressive track record of service delivery where it governs this is the party to be taken seriously if you want service delivery to all.
Beyond all the election clichés and promises stands the most important political role player in a democracy, namely the voter. If voters who are dissatisfied with the poor performance of the governing party turn out in high numbers at the ballot box on Election Day, they might just be rewarded with the type of local governments they deserve.
No comments:
Post a Comment