With the impending general elections, we must be prepared to see all sorts of potential candidates coming out of the woodwork. After all, being a Member of Parliament is like winning the lottery; you get a generous salary, princely allowances and a fat pension from the Exchequer funds at the end of your career.

So be prepared to see a plethora of candidates. You will have the customary batch of seasoned politicians, new ones seeking fame and fortune, familiar faces bidding for the unattainable glory and finally those not selected by their current party and currying favour elsewhere. Among this motley crew, there will be the calculating would-be politician, stopping at practically nothing to seek the elusive fame and achieve the prized goal. Then there will be a few aspiring candidates purporting to be selfless, full of promises and even proclaiming that they are sacrificing their professional careers for the good of the population.

If you believe in Father Christmas, you are likely to believe them and all the hot air they come out with. In fact, some candidates will not be worthy of your support because they will be the ones with no informing principles, no backbones and certainly no political ideology. I am not saying anything new because, over the years, we have seen politicians that can be termed turncoats, megalomaniacs and self-centred who virtually stop at nothing to achieve their ambitions. They have realised that there is always a huge pool of undecided voters, so they will make promises galore and practically undertake anything under the sun to get your vote.

Once in power, you won’t see them for dust. If they happen to be ministers in the new government, they will announce legislation to improve your life, repeat the same message over and over and then announce a consultation paper followed by a white paper and guess what?? more consultations. Eventually time will run out because there would have been no space in the government’s legislative programme. Me a cynic? No chance…

In the past, successive governments have had an exasperating practice of reheating announcements of forthcoming projects and proposed legislation so often that, in the end, it has been difficult to remember when it was first thought of, perhaps it is a sign of the times. You might think it is a cynical view but, personally, I can’t abhor those selfish, sanctimonious, even devious at times, politicians who, once in power, forget the very people that put them there.

Nevertheless, all is not doomed; luckily there are ambitious politicians with decent principles and enough acumen and wisdom to lead us. As electors, we have a duty to screen the self-seekers, those who are candidates, solely to be on the gravy train. So, please be discerning when you place your cross at the ballot box; otherwise you might regret this decision for the next five years!!!

<B>Claude Canabady</B>