Make your vote count

General News - Saturday December 22, 2007

EDITORIAL

Make your vote count

Political party leaders, their canvassers and candidates have finally reached the end of a long, winding election trail, during which most have tried to be all things to all people. Now their future rests in the hands of an apprehensive electorate.

These millions of voters will not have an easy task when they make their choices tomorrow. Among them will be many first-time voters who admit to being enthusiastic but somewhat confused by all the proxy campaigning _ political parties that canvass votes for themselves but speak in the name of others.

Such uncertainty is not surprising. It is what happens when a constitutional tribunal appointed by a military junta is forced to dissolve a rich but unprincipled and exploitative political party, which resorted to devious manipulation techniques and other transgressions to attain its end. The country was plunged into crisis, the military stepped in and the clock reset.

Tomorrow's election is anything but routine and we must hope it does not mark a return to the bad old days of guns, goons and godfathers. Surely those days are finally behind us. The cases of political violence that have occurred in this campaign have been few and far between and should have no bearing on who forms the next government. Intimidation and coercion are finally being replaced by maturity and genuine freedom of choice guaranteed by a secret ballot.

As usual, personalities rather than policies have dominated campaigns, and party platforms have been as flimsily constructed as the Don Muang district footbridge which collapsed under the weight of Banharn Silpa-archa and his campaign team last month, plunging the Chart Thai leader into a klong.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the flavour for this election has again been populist policies and some candidates have embraced the seasonal spirit of giving so enthusiastically that they could, at times, have been mistaken for Santa Claus. But, unlike Santa's, their gifts have largely been political promises which tend to suffer from a short shelf life.

All this has been going on under the watchful gaze of the Election Commission, which is being put to the test this weekend. Its task is to ensure fair and smooth sailing. Any excuse of insufficient manpower to oversee the election, a shortage of ballot papers in some polling units or abrupt changes of the locations of others, will not be acceptable. Nor will any unnecessary delay in results. Any cheats must be dealt with transparently and in accordance with the law.

Voting is mandatory and opting out because of the lack of a favourite candidate is not an option. Any voter caught in such a predicament _ and many will be _ should do more research and then go through a process of elimination to find the candidate they have the fewest qualms about and settle on him or her. That is a frustrating exercise which can rapidly give way to apathy. And the danger for democracy is that apathetic people often don't vote.

Rare is the election where a gifted, principled visionary dwarfs the other candidates and makes the choice a simple one. Saints rarely run for office, but plenty of sinners do. Anticipating their agendas and casting a vote wisely can be hard and headache-inducing work.

The most disheartening thing that can happen in any election is when people don't care enough about what is happening in their country to be bothered to make a decision. If they cannot be bothered to vote, then they lose more than their voting and petitioning rights. They lose the moral right to complain about any action taken by a new government that could personally affect them, from possible tax increases to changes being made to their lifestyle.

It is the duty of every citizen to vote with their heart and conscience tomorrow. That vote will represent a genuine investment in the country's future and the millions of people who are proud to call Thailand home.

Bangkok Post