An Ethical Campaign

Here's come the article which I promised one of the politician to write. Although it's come late...

Well, this is a good title to discuss and share.

We have just passed the General Election on May and we both know that the election or more accurate to say, the election campaigns are full with nastiness, squabbling, deceitfulness, irrelevancies and pettiness. Many candidate seems to subscribe to the theory of "All is Fair in War" which allowed almost anything in order to get elected, to win in the election. It's unethical, because it detracts from a issues that truly matter to public.

In order to see through the ethical campaign we must first understand the meaningful of a political campaign.

"A campaign clearly outlines the positions and character of the candidates so that voters can make informed decisions about whom they wish to see elected." - Judy Nadler and Miriam Schulman

 To advocate for such ethical campaigns, I therefore propose a code of ethics for the candidates to follow. These ethics are the back-rock not just for the democracy, but also for the candidates in order to have a long-distance running in their political life.

1. Be truth and tell truth.
One of the issue why the unethical campaign rises is due to the campaign communications that including the campaign advertising. An ethical campaign is not relied on the name-calling, innuendo, stereotyping or attack ads. We are not to argue that candidates must always say nice things about each other, but be truth about a candidate's record such as positions, occupations, educations, or even the date of supporter or voting records.

Besides that, public has a right to know the answer for the question they asked. If he or she doesn't have an answer or , the candidate should be forthright about this fact. It is a sign of strength, not weakness, to admit that one doesn't always have all the answers at the ready.

2. Criticize not the person but the argument.

"Personal attack are not only disrespectful, but also self-defeating" - Bruce Weinstein (author of Ethical Intelligence)

 Every argument is actually the issue that concerned and rised by public. Public is account of what the candidates are going to do about the flagging economy, the problematic education, the lack of affordable houses, or other issues that intimate to them.

3. Listen
"When I talk, you listen!" This is the most famous sentence in Malaysia. Public is listening to your speech, your shout, but please do the opposite also: Listen! Not listen to what the pundits are saying, but what the public claims; not to what the party is demanding, but what the citizens are requesting; not to what the campaign team suggesting, but what the voters are saying.

A sentence of "Thanks for listening" will bring a lot of supporter.

4. Don't simply make promise and keep promise
How many times you can believe if someone keep on breaking the promise? Promise, is a matter of honesty and credibility.

Candidates usually promise the world in order to get elected, but abandon those promise once in office. The empty hope giving is actually call cheating or lying, and it's harmful not only to the public but it self-defeat. This reinforce cynicism and negative feelings about candidates that can stymie officials once they are elected.

5. Lose well
Demeanor, or I call it "be gentlemen". A failure, doesn't mean forever. Candidates who lose shall accept defeat graciously, and be general to the victor. They shall also continue to devote their time, energy, and considerable resources as they pledged to do if elected.

"This candidate keep the promise although he lose. What if he elected?" Just imagine, when this question come into the mind of public.