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Voters must beware of politicians’ crafty and persuasive rhetoric

Nov 30, 2010 Letters

Dear Editor,
The process of electing a political party or coalition of parties, to rule a jurisdiction, is an enormous one that must be carefully studied and understood by all members of the electorate.
The seriousness of voting must be continuously explained and communicated to all, especially the disillusioned Guyanese youth severely hindered by ignorance and bogged down by misguided thoughts that lead them to believe their vote will never count.
As part of the intrigue of politics, very crafty and persuasive rhetoric are employed and delivered with stunning emotional conviction to influence the minds and hearts of the less perceptive individuals.
In recent times, this has led these unsuspecting souls to place their votes for political mercenaries disguised as the people’s progressive democrats. This must not happen at the next election! Guyanese both young and old must exercise great diligence in scrutinizing the political pecking order and elect the best possible political group with the best minds and the best roadmap for rescuing this nation.
The proposal that political parties present to their constituents at election time is commonly called a manifesto. In deciphering the content of this document, readers should be made aware of a particular political party’s current ideologies, and should also get a plan of decisive actions the party would take should it win the election.
As a communicative tool, a party manifesto is prepared in order to both increase the percentage of votes and explain the programmes and aims of the party to all audiences.
Because of the competitive nature of politics, political parties have to develop specific manifestos which are able to convey all the important thoughts, aims and political principles. On the other hand it should be comprehensive and so dynamic as to keep up with the changing conditions which can affect the country’s domestic politics and international relations as well.
Election manifestos act as the guideline as well as the mirror for interpreting the process by which a political party will function for the welfare of the public.
However, in Guyana, in recent decades, the status of electoral manifestos has diminished somewhat due to a significant tendency for winning parties to, following the election, either ignore, indefinitely delay, or even outright reject manifesto policies which were popular with the public.
Conversely it can be argued that one of the key elements in making a manifesto believable is the credibility that the document inspires. Guyanese need to more discerning and honest in rejecting false rhetoric and trumped up figures that provide the optical illusion of development.
There is a glaring truth about political manifestos and it is that they are lengthy boring documents that can be tedious to read.
Therefore it is the responsibility of the political parties to make the content of their manifestos available in different forms that can reach large audiences with the same strong message they need communicated.
Particularly the opposition movement in Guyana, need to ensure that they spare no effort in breaking down their manifestos in ways that can be easily communicated and understood.
The demography of the electorate is likely to highlight a very young voting population. Therefore very energetic communication messages must be constructed and delivered using all available channels that guarantee reach and effectiveness.
Richard Francois

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