At the end of the day, the people are the ones who put MPs in power

AS the number of educated Papua New Guineans increases, although at a slower pace, the people’s awareness of the consequences of electing bad political leaders appears to have increased dramatically.
Social media posts are dominated by political comments.
This surge of interest in politics has been partly influenced by recent student strikes and riots aimed at pressuring the Government to backtrack on some of its major policy decisions.
It is said that a large faction of Christians with their leaders have come together and are praying for God to choose good political leaders.
Most PNG politicians who get into power use the position of privilege to accumulate wealth for themselves and their supporters.
Sadly, it is considered normal for a politician to have many wives.
In most instances, a politician is respected next to God not because of his wisdom or good integrity but because he has the means to give money (albeit through corrupt means).
I am utterly amazed at how such leaders are often praised by the people which leads me to ask: how can politicians implicated in serious scandals and moral issues remain in power?
My conclusion is that the fault lies with the people as they elect the leaders.
The people are the boss and the judge.
They choose who should represent them in Parliament and these MPs are accountable to them (the people).
At the end of his term, the people are asked to judge his performance.
If the incumbent MP failed to perform, the people have the power to elect a new one.
The people accept a certain level of corruption as they want free hand-outs.
The act of receiving government money without doing any work is corruption in itself because the leader is doing you a favour to get your political support. People are selfish and greedy because if they cared for the future of their children and this country, they would choose leaders wisely.
Instead, they think only of the present and themselves.
If we the people are guilty of a greater sin in electing very bad political leaders, does it make sense for us to pray and cry to God for good political leaders?
I think that would be ironic.
I think we should pray to God that He (God) will make us wiser so that we can change our ways and be wise enough to distinguish between good and bad political leaders.

Emmanuel Isaac
Port Moresby