Tell-tale signs of politicians you may struggle to trust

Some voters have already made up their minds on who to vote for on December 14. Others have not and are listening to what the politicians and their parties before they decide. They have two weeks to make up their mind.

There are several factors that are taken into consideration when voters decide. Here are some of them:

Family connection – Some will support a candidate because of family ties even though they may not support some of their party policies.

Friendship – Some will take their friendship to the political arena.

School association – Ex-students support a candidate because they went to the same school.

Professional relationship – They may have trained and worked together in a particular field. That bond can influence the final decision.

Religion – Faith groups have a definite influence in politics. This is manifested in this election with the formation of the All Peoples Party, a party made up of a combination of faith-based organisations, which use the Holy Bible to expound their beliefs.

Where you come from – This is used also to form opinions. Provincialism is still very much alive despite the fact that we have done away with constituency-based election. Today, there is one national constituency. But many politicians ignore it and resort to old style politics. They exploit it to their advantage because it decentralises the party structure and system. It also cuts cost because candidates can focus on their constituencies instead of the entire country.

Disgruntled voters – These are aggrieved people who had a bad experience with a particular leader or party, and switch their allegiance to another party.

Loyal voters – They stick with the same party they started with because they believe in its policies no matter what happens.

Undecided voters – These are voters who have not made up their mind and will leave it to the eleventh hour before they decide. They have not come across the critical issue they are looking for to be addressed by a party.

Will not vote – Either they are not registered or registered but do not want to vote. They are disillusioned or afraid about what they see or hear on the campaign trail. They are turned off by the mudslinging and fearmongering.

An effective test that undecided voters can do is to review what politicians and parties have been saying over the past 12 months. If their position on various issues has been consistent it is a good start.

It tells you that they can be trusted. If they said they would do something and later failed to do it or change their position for no plausible reason then these are alarm signals. Feel good and flowery language is used to woo voters.

Voters can verify what politicians and parties tell them by checking with official, authoritative sources the authenticity and accuracy of information.

Yes, it will require some work but the end result will justify the time and cost required to do it. It will help the well-informed voters make sound choices at the ballot box.

If they do the relevant research they will come across tell-tale signs whether they can trust a particular politician or not.

And they can find out by reviewing what they said on respective issues over the past year. Politicians who kept changing what they said on an issue and reneged on promises made obviously cannot be trusted.

NEMANI DELAIBATIKI

Feedback: nemani.delaibatiki@fijisun.com.fj