There is so much emotion and party politics in the nation that people are not thinking straight. There is fear that the O'Neill-Namah Government is playing tricks.
We all expect major problems of violence in the highlands as a combination of guns, marijuana, homebrew and inter-clan rivalry. Everyone wants a Member in their clan with a DSIP funding account.
The problem will be far worse by incomplete electoral rolls. Many hundreds of thousands of men and women, including university students will not be on the roll.
Some registered after their 18th birthday but in their first election they will have no vote. Whole clans will be affected.
Hundreds of thousands of dead people will still be eligible to vote. Their families and clan members will do the honours in their memory.
There will be a tussle for people to vote in the names that are on the roll. That will bring violence and polling booth intimidation. Women will be intimidated by the men.
This is a national crisis. The Constitution says the elections will go ahead. But the Constitution did not count on the disaster at the office of the Electoral Commission that would not be ready with up-to-date rolls if the election were deferred by 12 months. Please click:
YER CAN'T WIN IN POLITICS, PILGRIM
There are good democratic reasons why the election should go ahead on time. There are also democratic good reasons why there should be a deferral.
The aim of the game is to run a fair and honest election for the majority of people. That will be impossible in 2012.
Democracy does not mean an election at all costs. Democracy is about the welfare of the people. But the people have spoken at least in public debate. The election will go ahead.
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