Political Perspective

THERE’VE been suggestions recently, which I’ve echoed in the past, for all the presidential candidates of the various parties to agree to a publicly televised debate nearer to the elections. This was again mooted by a letter writer, who, as a young person, said he/she as a first-time voter this year, didn’t know who to vote for and would find it helpful to see/hear what the various presidential candidates had to say on a variety of issues.

AND it would be good if something like this could happen, nearer the time of the election, because the debate could be made accessible to the majority of our population by going out live on radio as well. And believing as most of us do in the importance of an informed electorate, something like this would go a long way towards ensuring that the various political parties concentrate on the issues they stand for, rather than continue the endless mudslinging and personalised politics that continues with most of those groups contesting the upcoming elections.In addition it would contribute to the seemingly diminishing sense of accountability on the part of politicians, and it would stand them in good stead with the electorate were they to agree to such a debate.It would need, of course, to be properly managed by journalists competent to put the candidates to the test, and the same questions, which could be agreed upon beforehand, would of course be posed to each candidate who would be given a time allocation in which to answer.Our politicians do like television, but usually only if they are making speeches; and are slightly more averse when it comes to being put on the spot.And yet what better way to give ‘equal’ coverage to the various presidential candidates than to give them the podium to spell out their policies and promises when questioned about them. One would think they would accept such an invitation with alacrity, that is, if they were keen on sharing their ideas with the majority of the Namibian people.It would not of course work if only some, and not all, participated. It would need to be obligatory for it to work but it would help to deepen the democratic debate around elections, which is something we really do need to do.Politics in this country has to a large extent been trivialised by the ongoing altercations largely taking place between the various political entities, but this discussion does not include the people of this country who are largely excluded from the discourse on matters that affect them most directly and most deeply.And it is some of these existing constraints, as well as the arrogance that characterises many of our politicians, that would probably make such a debate difficult to realise in practice. Our political parties also need to reinvent the way they practise their politics. The traditional ‘rally’ has begun to feel rather tired. At such events the leadership of the party in question preaches to the people, but seldom submits to questions from his/her audience or does walkabout with them. Often the people are separated from their very own leaders by barbed wire fences, which has always been incomprehensible to me. You want people to vote for you, your party, but they must be kept away in physical terms! Scary. Why would one want to vote for people like this in any case? Leaders who are neither accessible nor accountable, and merely seek your presence during election periods at rallies to justify their support base. Perhaps it helps reinforces their own sense of importance.The people must serve the politicians, and not the other way around, is what appears to be our practice in Namibia, and we need to reverse this trend.We need leaders who are not only prepared to take to public platforms to be questioned about their policies and plans for the country, but who are also prepared to justify their pledges. We need leaders who are unafraid of their own people, who move among them freely, and not leaders who feel they are too ‘special’ to mix with ordinary mortals! We need also to hold our leaders accountable, those who are governing already and those who want to govern, and we can only do this if we can gain access to them. We don’t need just the speeches of pontificating poseurs; we need to find out if they’ve really got what it takes to make good on their promises to the nation. And we have the right to cast aside those who don’t meet our standards, or agree to be governed by fools!In short, we need to get to know our leaders, and the proposed television debate of presidential candidates would be a very good place to start!