Editorial

Voter Confidence Still Lacking

BOTH political parties seem confident going into next Monday’s general elections. Both parties’ campaigns have been building momentum ever since the Prime Minister declared June 6 as the day Saint Lucians go to the polls.

Over the past few months, the Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) has been hitting the ground running, launching candidates and holding numerous public meetings around the island. The prevailing sentiment seemed to suggest that the United Workers’ Party (UWP) had yet again found itself wanting.

However, the race towards forming the next government picked up a different pace after the election date was announced, resulting in both parties now said to be in a dead heat in the lead-up to Monday’s elections. Both parties, it seems, are prepared to campaign to the very last minute this time around.

But the CADRES poll that declares the dead heat is now being challenged by some, including the SLP that has queries about certain aspects that need more clarification. But polls are polls and samplings do not always represent the true sentiment of the general electorate. As such, voter turnout and choice would be the real litmus test as to which party Saint Lucians trust enough to manage their affairs for the next five years.

In many instances, voters are being asked to either put their faith in candidates they barely know or parties whose plans are not yet fully understood. Some are even unaware of the voting process because voter education is not a mandatory, consistent exercise from the school level upwards, resulting in many spoilt ballots.

Many people also have no clear sense of the political parties’ core values, so they end up voting based on issues. These are real concerns especially since the teaching of civics in the classrooms is lacking and many people resign to voting based on their peers and family members’ preferences.

While both political parties seem adamant that they each have what it takes to govern, the obvious growing voter apathy remains a crucial factor. With both parties articulating plans to address the social, economic and political issues confronting us, many people still feel disenchanted with the same song being sung from different song sheets. Political parties need to work harder to change that.

The state of the economy, crime and unemployment are among the priorities many voters think that need overhauling in the next term. Whichever party does win at the polls on Monday and is able to correct these anomalies in the quickest possible time would have earned its laurels, especially from both those voters who took a chance at better and the apathetic who are still seeking justifiable reasons why they should participate in the process of choosing a government.

Too many Saint Lucians are not feeling confident enough to exercise their democratic right to vote and that needs to change.

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