It is the candidate who matters and not his party symbol or colour

In the run up to the Local Government election, there is many a vote-catching promise made on   political platforms with each party forwarding their rationale as to why the people should cast their vote for them. As citizens of a country which has its economy in the doldrums, it is opportune that we make a wise decision instead of lamenting over the fact that we made the wrong choice. 

In the elections that have come and gone most of us made our decision based on a particular political party. However, considering the fact that corruption is rampant irrespective of any political party, we must ensure that we make our crucial decision based on the candidate and not on a party. 

Let us consider one of the recent events that made headlines and became the talk of the town. The Bond Scam which took place in the recent past and the final report presented by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry have clearly confirmed the words of wisdom of the British politician Lord Acton that “power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely”.

How far have the politicians fulfilled their promise of the sun, moon and the stars which they make prior to the elections? This is not a million euro dollar question. The answer simply slips away from our tongues even before we could think critically.

Some say that the Local Government election will have an impact on the country while others say that it is not. However, let us put aside this contentious issue and remind ourselves that this is the first stepping stone in a politician’s career. Casting our vote for a candidate based on his/her political party is not going to reap benefits for us because politicians in our country are involved in the habit of changing their allegiance to their parties at regular intervals for pecuniary motives (also known as ‘kade yanawaa’ in Sinhala).

Before we head off to the polling booths on 10 February, let us remind ourselves that we had voted for the perpetrators of all heinous crimes that took place in the former regime. We committed the same mistake again by voting for individuals who are being incriminated in the bond scam – Machiavellian financial scandal in Sri Lankan history. 

Keeping these things in mind, we ought to think more than thrice and use our privilege and right to vote in a way that it would reap positive benefits for us as well as our motherland. 

Hassaan Shazuli

Colombo 10