Indecision 08

The race for the Whitehouse is finally over. But down under in Aotearoa, the land of the long white cloud, the race for the Beehive is only days away.

Saturday 08 November 2008, is when New Zealand heads to the polls in what is considered to be a financially critical election.

They are calling it “Decision 08”. Sadly, yours truly remains “Undecided 08”.

This is the first ever election where I cannot arrive at a decision on where to place my party vote. Traditionally I’ve always leaned towards Labour, but I find myself (like a number of others) unable to align myself anymore with its policies.

There are 19 political parties contesting the elections. As with most elections, the political mud-slinging between the two major parties – Labour and National have made for interesting and sometimes amusing television and press reports. However, months of this “he says/she says” has also assailed my hearing and completely clouded my ability to make an informed decision on who will best serve my needs.

Labour is making a desperate and very greed attempt at a fourth term in office. The “reds” have been in power for nine years now. Their initial terms were served in more or less a constructive manner. The last couple of years have however, seen some dirty political manoeuvring and poor choices, in terms of policies and political bedfellows – all of which has made it apparent that they have gradually lost sight of the realities of life in New Zealand.

National, largely predicted to emerge victorious, is almost “blue” in the face (no pun intended) with their Labour bashing and preaching of the gospel of change. But nothing they have said or spelled out thus far has provided any indication of what it is that they plan to change and exactly how they are going to go about doing this.

John Key, the leader of the National Party is only slightly more attractive to look at than our current Prime Minister Helen Clarke. But a “pretty boy” is not what this country needs to steer it forward. He often boasts that his background as an investment banker makes him more knowledgeable on financial issues than his opponents. I’d love to believe him, but having worked in an investment bank myself, I’m not entirely convinced of this assertion.

The political canvass is further coloured with other minor parties. Some of these like the Greens, the Maori Party, ACT, and NZ First are better known. They also have enough of a following to enable them to form a possible coalition with either Labour or National if required. Other smaller parties like the Kiwi Party, Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis, Alliance, and Democrats for Social Change, Pacific Party etc. are parties that I know nothing about and therefore they do not warrant my vote.

The most interesting gain in terms of votes will more than likely go to the Maori party who have done a lot of positive work in getting Maori issues to the forefront and really kudos to them for doing so well. But again, as I am not Maori, I do not believe that they are necessarily the best representatives of my needs and issues.

And so I’m stuck in this quagmire called indecision.

It’s a bit like being given a blank canvas and asked to paint it with one strikingly rich colour. There are a few attractive colours on the easel - Red, Blue, Green, Yellow and even Purple. Individually bold and rich they may be, but none in my estimation exemplifies the much required “Rainbow of Hope”. And so I remain “Undecided 08”