The Right To Vote

I’M writing this letter to emphasise the importance and significance of casting a vote. Your vote is the most powerful thing in an election. So we should not worry too much about door-to-door or smear campaigns, bribery etc. I have my own philosophy about voting:

I do not have membership card of any political party;I read all the parties manifestos, websites and other material;I will allow any person in my house to inform me about his/her party ideas ( as long as you do not force me to join your party);I listen to parliamentary reports every day;I will attend any party public meeting;I vote in every election.Now let me explain some of this points in brief detail. You do not need a political party membership card to vote, unless you are being forced to have one because you might need some favour to get employment, money or land. It is not a sin to read party manifestos because it is the manifesto that guides you on what party to vote for, and gives you freedom to approach that party if it does not deliver. If you are open to listen to any person about their ideas you will be able to see how serious the party is or whether they only want to get into parliament and then forget about you. You can ask many questions face to face rather than asking question through SMS and radio. If you listen to parliament every day you will be able to see who you want to be in the next time, because some of MPs are there only to vote.Let me give you an example of the Communications bill: the opposition opposed the bill, the ruling party passed the bill in the current form and the National Council referred it for public scrutiny. The ruling party has the majority in both houses, but if I have to vote according to that bill I will vote for one of the opposition parties in the parliamentary election and for the ruling party in the regional election. Why? Because I do not agree with bill in its current form. Meetings will keep you informed as to whether the ruling party is practising what they preach, because you have their results now. And for the opposition, are they only shouting about where Swapo has failed or are they outlining how they going to rectify the difficulties that we are facing? Because for me you can say WHAT you are going to do, but is very important to explain HOW you are going to do.So this the only way to enable me to determine who to vote for. As far as I know your vote is your secret. I can wear party colours from head to toe and still vote for another party.So my vote is the only powerful weapon in the election, you can threaten me with any means but when it to comes to casting my vote I am the one who decides because no one can vote on my behalf.So do your research for the two months that are left and vote responsibly!VoterVia e-mailNote: Name and address provided – Ed