Presidential winner should be exemplary citizen, uphold rule of law
View(s):With the date for presidential elections announced as November 16, what are the attributes that people are looking for in a presidential poll winner?
To gauge public opinion, the Business Times (BT) ran an email poll this week to ascertain the views of the public on the key attributes they are looking for in a president.
To five questions posed in the poll, the majority of the 300 + respondents agreed that the winning candidate should have an exemplary record as a citizen, aim to create a disciplined society, uphold the rule of law, be conversant with social, economic and cultural issues, and respect human rights and equality to all.
All the answers found a near 90 per cent or over 90 per cent of the respondents agreeing to these attributes. (See graph) However some respondents raised issue with the questions posed, saying that these were common issues that everyone is agreed to and that the poll should have asked more searching questions or a deeper insight into the winning candidate.
The Business Times states that the questions were of a general nature and not targeted to any individual which would have raised issues of bias and being partisan.
Given are some of the comments provided by the respondents:
- I hope all the voters decide not to vote so that all the candidates will have to go home! The winner will be the Sri Lankans!!
- Thank you for this timely and relevant poll. As a citizen of Sri Lanka I agree that we need a disciplined society, equity and equality. Also important is the quality of life. Being contented and happy.
- Majority of the countries choose a party with a vision mission and goal and the party leader becomes the leader.
- Why are we Sri Lankans looking at personality, etc? A leader should have good leadership qualities. So what is the purpose of these responses?
- We need to think in broader terms for a sustainable Sri Lanka.
- A leader should have a policy statement (a long term plan) to steer Sri Lanka to the greatness it ought to be. I think that’s what we should demand from any leader.
- This is the only country we have. So, all of us should protect it as we owe it to the next generation.
- Any potential leader should not have pending court cases. The whole family should be citizens of Sri Lanka to avoid loyalty being split between home country and the country of residence.
- We don’t have any candidate who fits the profile of this questionnaire now or in the foreseeable future
- These (questions) are only “expectations” of the public. But by looking at the potential candidates, we cannot expect any of the attributes from any one of them. The country is simply “doomed”!
- I really think the UNP should get on with it and name their candidate without confusing the people. This is typical of all their work, they can never decide. At this rate, some won’t vote at all.
- We have had enough of murders, scams, and empty promises. At our expense. That is why we’re suffering now.
- The media should independently report facts and not take sides like some sections of the media.
- The average voter knows that people who can also run a country and economy efficiently are unlikely to come forward as candidates in the current political scenario is very corrupt.
- There should be a Code of conduct for religious leaders and they should avoid joining politics.
- We need a disciplined, considerate and environmentally conscious, society. Not military discipline where people are ruled by fear.