People’s Criteria

The problems of the country are long-standing and enormous. It is only reasonable to expect candidates, especially for the country’s highest offices, to already have concrete proposals for dealing with these. This is a requirement for any real leadership. It is also reasonable to expect them to share their program with the public which would show their respect for the voters.

Candidates have to be considered beyond motherhood statements which anyone can say. The country’s problems are clear – does a candidate have the courage for the difficult things that need to be done?

In assessing candidates we can give some weight to public statements they make on issues. While mere declarations they at least show that a candidate is aware of the issue and able to articulate a position against which they can be held to account for.

More important is what a candidate has done in terms of pushing formal policies, programs or laws on one side or the other of an issue. This means that their personal position becomes expressed in way having an impact beyond themselves.

But most revealing is a candidate having actual involvement on a matter as an active participant,  direct beneficiary or in other ways having a vested interest. Because they can say or formally push one thing while in actual practice doing the opposite of these.

A candidate is said to have no clear stand or position when there is none apparent but also when these are made only in ambiguous or general terms.