Be it for the municipal or the general election of the country, blaming citizens for not voting would never resolve the situation. It bewilders me to see how easy it gets to, to reduce all profound issues to just any sort of shallow explanation, as long as it sounds like a way out. I forced myself out of my house for one of my civic duties on Sunday, only to realise that choices were limited on the ballot paper. The candidates were not known to me and it is not a matter of not knowing the candidates, it is also about their inability to project their plan for the future of the town.

On my way to the polling centre, I could note few interesting folkloric symbols. The same group of people who represented the red and purple political group last December for the general elections could be seen occupying the same stand with white-blue-orange flags floating above their heads.  The purpose of them occupying the pavement, with a table in front of their house, they told me December last, was to see to it that people knew which way to go. Thing they also did was taking the identity card’s number of voters and matching it with what they had in front of them on a list.  No, they did not match mine for I would not give in to such kind of an activity. I could see them doing it with other voters’ consent.

Very often I hear professionals of the media calling political agents ‘activists’. If agents and activists are synonymous, then spare me the blatant irony that agents fatten themselves with each and every opportunity they get politically, while activists are those who are sweating their brains and actions for no lucrative reasons. Please mind your semantics, dear professionals of the media, it would be interesting that you do convey the right information to citizens while keeping a reality-check on how you represent things to those who contend themselves to mere consumerism.

Why would anyone vote for a political party who has proven to be an utter failure in terms of keeping up with its electoral promises to the population or for another one which ended by courting different parties for power hijacking purposes? Citizens have the duty to really understand what is happening around them and to vote accordingly, for or against. We do not need the politics of our country to be reduced by the emotional upheavals much sought after, for instance when there is a carnival or a football match (no offense intended to football fans).

Citizens want to see things being done, where they can participate actively. This is how things will change and this is the direction. Using political colours and symbols as baits are outdated. The need for concrete actions to be taken is what we need. Besides football playgrounds and swimming pools, we want ouverture for freedom of expression (Cry our beloved abandoned theatres), we want artists to have their place in the society, a permanent space for the creation of arts, an booming determination to reduce mayhem, a proper interaction among different generations to be able to keep pace with evolution and the assessment of the work of those who represent us, every six months.

If they cannot perform, we want to see who is next on the list to be able to bring forth worthy projects and make them real. Or why not allow those who are protesting the present situation with a blank vote.  To vote or not to vote is a matter of being. I cannot vote just for the sake of voting if I do not believe in your projects.

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