Next year, the country will hold its sixth municipal elections since the dawn of our democracy. It remains unclear if the country will hold elections online or not. Everything will depend on whether a cure or treatment for the coronavirus has been found by then. We can only but hope and pray that a cure will be found.
That said, our electoral system favours political parties. And political parties used that to their advantage. And the party political system has failed voters. As a result, voters have lost confidence in our political system.
Imagine a metropolitan municipal council having an executive mayor who does not belong to a political party. And mayoral committee members who are not affiliated with any political party. That is a possibility. As a matter of fact, that’s what our country needs.
Right now, we are led by councillors who are loyal to their political parties. And they don’t give a hoot about voters – the very ones who voted them into power. The only time they pretend to care is during elections time. When will this stop?
There is a desperate need for a change of councillors in our local government. We need a new breed of councillors. The kind that is competent, responsive, compassionate and incorruptible. The ones that will put people first and remain loyal to voters.
That said, this is an opportune time for individual citizens to raise their hands and stand as independent candidates en masse at local level. This is also an opportunity for independent candidates to dismantle the power of political parties by winning the forthcoming local government elections.
The ball is in the citizens’ courts.
