September 28, 2014

Dear Sir,

People today realise more than ever that something is wrong with our political system.

I once believed that the political parties — despite their poor performances — genuinely had people as their primary focus. Just a nudge and some cosmetics surgery would reform them. How naive I was.

What I’ve learned lately is that the situation is not benign, but malignant.

I have asked party stalwarts whether they realise that in the strongholds where there has been a consistent 700 or 800 party supporters showing up to the polls election after election and will do so in the future, and equally as consistently a poor participating membership of 10 to 50 people, and would it not be fair and an indication of true democracy to engage the 700 and 800 in selection of candidates. These stalwarts reply absolutely not, saying the 700 or 800 are voting for us (the team) and if they wanted to participate nothing stops them from joining.

So now we have two clubs who believe they are entitled to rule and like a beauty parade the voter selects one of the two private members club to rule for five years. Your right to vote has been diminished to a role to ratify a party decision. I did not know that members actually felt that entitlement until now. I have heard them express it but thought it was a misappropriation of words, but now I known they really mean it. So when you hear a party say it’s our turn or it’s our government, don’t make the mistake and think it means all of you who voted for them, its narrower than that; it means the little group of 10 and 20 at the branch level and 60 to 100 at central and any extension of persons paid up.

Khalid Wasi