It can turn politics into a kind of performance art. The electorate is interested in the personal stories of the politicians, not abstract policy debates. They look to the TV screen for a hero they can identify with. Whoever can play that hero wins the race. This is both an achievement and a trap of democratic politics.
Voters are sick and tired of pre-election smear campaigns and character assassination.
They want candidates to stand up and tell the electorate what they stand for. But when the time comes for candidates to announce their policy white papers, or to explain their campaign platforms on TV, people are often bored by what they see and hear. This is what happened during yesterday's televised platform speeches by the five presidential candidates. The interaction and balance between the two forces are an important driving force in the politics of development. Unfortunately, in this election, we are seeing some candidates whose actions seem to be motivated not by winning the race but by raising a rumpus.