Local Politics

Municipal elections are drawing near and having only gotten involved in local politics the last few months I have been surprised to see how much work and free time goes into it. I became interested in politics again when the last coalition fell in early 2012. Though previously, Obama definitely influenced me positively, the 2010 election result had so disgusted me I was ready to leave the country, having no wish to re-experience right wing evil extremism again. Having fought it once had led to important life decisions, which subsequently left me with a general distaste for politics. However, after better election results in 2012 and a change of tune in political fever, I decided to join a party, deciding that it was better to help the left wing swing to fruition than ignore politics completely.

Alas, a long absence from politics also leaves one quite clueless. For example, after becoming a party member I went quite motivated to my first meeting, only to discover that I did not even know the correct town council in which I lived. In my defence, it had been split into two a few years before and they had similar names. Anyway, I was warmly welcomed but I still didn’t understand why I had to belong to another group when distance wise this was the closest group. Ahhh.. politics. I also heard people talking about their roots as being a ‘rode nestje’ quite frequently and it made me wonder just what difference that makes.  

Since then, entering the ‘right’ meetings with many different vibes, has introduced me to many new people.  Activities are plentiful and I’ve canvassed, attended workshops, national and local  meetings, voted for local and municipal fraction members, witnessed list chasing, winners and losers,  plus been invited to some meetings of which I’m sure I’m not meant to be there. Don’t know how it happened but they were certainly the most interesting! 

Of course, I try to recruit my friends too and they generally belong to all types of parties along the political spectrum. The most startling fact in this adventure was that I had lived in the area for 10 years and had never once come across the party members or canvassers at my door or shopping centre. Was it because I just don’t open my door to non-invitees? Or how about the local newspaper with local political isses politicians had been fighting for. I had never read them, in fact I didn’t think anybody read them. Perhaps I’ve been lucky, in that in our small suburbian community, we have a group of neighbours who mostly always help each other with everything so there has never been a need for local politics. But I am probably completely wrong . Perhaps there was and I just didn’t notice it. I’ve done community voluntary work alongside my job before but not for political initiatives so I do still believe one can be involved with community but without politics.   

So to sum up, do I give a thumbs up for local politics? Yes, I do. The fun part is when you can come into contact with important politicians to whom you can ask those burning questions or alternatively, query their strategy. The most eye-opening meeting was the female only day, purely because of the openness and flexibility of those present. It was there that I was straightforwardly encouraged to just present myself as a candidate for the fraction lists, get started on any portfolio, and just roll into it. Interesting advice, as I had been observing candidates and everyone closely, yet from afar, sometimes pleasingly influenced and sometimes not. However, although I thoroughly appreciate the ladies’ ideas of plunging in with giant leaps of faith, I think such dedication and hard work requires long thoughtful deliberation and besides I am thoroughly inexperienced in this field. All in all though it has been a pleasant journey to date, which brings to mind a comment of one of my friends. She belongs to another party and has done so for years but never spoke about it and also never went to any meetings. When I asked her why she said quite honestly ‘they’re all weird!’ Amusing...and I do trust my friend’s judgment. Fortunately, the people I meet are not weird, but they are definitely diverse and that is the nicest, as the majority with whom I work are quite right wing liberals who are generally not in favour of social democratic principles. It’s good to have a social circle with whom you can share different political views but it’s also nice to be around completely similarly minded people too.

Municipal elections will be here soon and I am curious to see if polls and social media are accurate instruments to measure party sentiment or whether the majority of the population really just care only about the money. Will they remain stubborn to change and reform and will this lead to an ugly right wing swing again in the future? Or will the change in political tune and positive politics pay off and make a difference in the long term? 

 

THE MINISTER OF FINANCE ON THE LABOUR BOAT OF THE ANNAUL GAY PRIDE.

HE'S STRAIGHT AND MARRIED WITH 3 KIDS