BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - IT is not difficult to sniff out an approaching election! Just look for the politicians scurrying about, doing their house-to-house visits, hosting an inordinate amount of political meetings and rallies as well as making an abundance of promises that they claim would be fulfilled if they either retain or get into office.
A plethora of political paraphernalia floats about. They cover almost all of the billboards across the country and they hang from the bodies of supporters of the various parties.
But one of the top indicators of a brewing election is the politicians’ increased visits to their constituents. Many can attest to the fact that during a few months before an election is expected and, more so, during the weeks after the bell would have been rung, the faces of politicians become a regular fixture within villages and towns.
Doorbells are rung and villagers’ names are yelled by the agents of politicians or the politicians themselves. And once successful in getting the attention of the prospective voter, bids for either re-election or election are made. Words of promises of progress saturate the air.
And then for some strange reason, win, lose or draw, there is a noticeable scarcity of politicians for the five or so years which would elapse between elections.
It would almost appear that the electorate is nothing more than a bunch of political prostitutes and the politicians, their pimps!
Thankfully, not all politicians fall into this category.
The general complaint has been that following an election, most politicians rarely, if ever at all, see or communicate with their candidates on a one-on-one level. Yes, there are constituency offices which constituents are welcomed to visit, chitchat with their political representatives about their cares, concerns and or if just to give a proverbial pat on the politicians’ backs for strides they had made in their communities.
The complaint which seems to reverberate across the land is that after the votes would have been cast and after the chips would have fallen, politicians could only or mostly be seen driving by in their vehicles or making appearances on television and radio programmes.
It is no secret that because of the number of constituents in any given constituency, it would be difficult for them to reach the front doors of all of them. But, it is far from impossible!
How else should the electorate feel other than like mere ‘political prostitutes’ if these ‘political pimps’ just use and abuse them and get whatever mileage before casting them aside for the next five years?
And like a pimp armed with honey-coated words laced with promises and sprinkled with a hint of perceived threats, they call upon their faithful prostitutes to once again work on their behalf.
These pimps, despite not having walking canes, grills on their teeth and almost-floor-length fur coats with matching shoes and hats, they boast the same principles and have become the masters of the game.
After many years of kneeling to the pimps of the political industry, it is time for the ‘political prostitutes’ to cause a tipping of the scale and demand a shift in the electorate/politicians dynamic.
