A civil election campaign…so far

Who says we can’t be civilized and need to behave like gangsters and thugs in a GE? Who says that all the dirty gutter political tricks and antics will be rolled out to destroy an opponent in a GE? Till today, the last two days of the GE campaign, the hustings have been pretty civil and respectable from both camps. No video of people romping in hotel bedrooms were aired, no ransacking of people’s cupboards and drawers for pornographic art were flashed in the media, no silly people were reported checking on people’s bus fare or taxi claims. Of course there were a couple of incidents that bordered on gutter politics, hitting below the belt, but quickly put off as the opponents realized that such conduct will reflect badly on themselves. And don’t forget that no one has the monopoly of the media and can speak and demolish his opponents while the latter is refused a chance of reply or fair comments. There is an alternative media out there waiting to pounce on anyone that crosses the line. And the alternative media need not be civil and can be very vicious and ugly. So far everyone is polite and gentlemanly. Two more days to go and if they can keep it that way, we can have a really clean and decent GE to be proud of. And organizations that are in possession of private and confidential data and information should guard them zealously and prevent nincompoohs from exploiting them in breach of the rule of confidentiality, privacy, ethics and personal integrity. No one should abuse his position of power to assess confidential information of candidates to hit anyone below the belt. Be warned that the internet brigade will do even worst when provoked. The contest is a contest of ideas and it is very encouraging and pleasant to see ideas being challenged and dutifully reported in the media. This is a sign of progress. Just keep the fingers crossed that the ugliness will not raise its head after the election with lawsuits, and candidates and their families being persecuted and have to run road. I have faith that we are maturing as a people and need not return to the days of being young and wild.