Quatre Bornes sees low voter turnout

I’m your top prime cut of meat, I’m your choice

I wanna be elected

I’m your yankee doodle dandy in a gold Rolls Royce

I wanna be elected

Kids want a saviour, don’t need a fake

I wanna be elected

We’re gonna rock to the rules that I make

I wanna be elected, elected, elected

I never lied to you, I’ve always been cool

I wanna be elected

(Elected by Alice Cooper)

The race to replace Roshi Bhadain is over. Voter turnout in the Belle-Rose/Quatre-Bornes constituency N°18 for the by-election is a record low with just 54.96 % of the town’s registered voters casting ballots.  Therefore, a nagging question crops up: does a decline in voting in the Belle-Rose/Quatre-Bornes constituency demonstrate a loss of trust in politicians? Many scholars and political commentators predicted a low voter turnout at this by-election. In my article of the 25 October 2017 published in the Forum page of Le Mauricien, I mentioned that the by-election turnout will be a strong indicator of our people’s attitudes towards politicians. I am not a prophet of disaster but it is alarming to see a decline in voting. It proves that our politicians will have to regain trust of the public. Trust will come with honesty and that is what voters want. Decline in voting proves that the public does not want to be fooled by the trends of ‘promises’. We noticed that during press interviews, many candidates could not give straight answers to straight questions.

Many journalists do know when a politician is lying during an interview and so does the public if they are watching the show live. Surveys in the UK showed that politicians are less trusted to tell the truth than estate agents and bankers.

If politicians do not wish a low voter turnout at the next general elections, they will have to regain trust by being honest to the public.