By Peter Polack

Family is everything. Much could be made of the candidate who is a family man. This, like consistent employment, may be believed as essential attributes for political representation. A comparison would be the older leather bound Bibles with many pages for family information and notes giving way to the modern more instructional or interpretative version. 

It may be that a leader must be a translator and not a false prophet. Convert the wishes of the people into the needs of society while taking a positive spin on our existent reality. The book of Matthew reminds us that whoever wants to be a leader must be our servant and candidates should display this necessary characteristic.

The best education is to run a real business from creation to implementation, not an institutional paper mill. Such experience exists among our candidates without popular value. It would have taught employment, value for money, logistics, innovation and tranquillity under pressure all necessary qualities of leadership. 

Some have had to face tribunals over an extensive period. Most came out of the other side of the tunnel tougher and more realistic about society. It is not a badge of honour but a badge of experience. A gauntlet of sorts that has seen many crumble. 

Happily they may have empathy for victims of desperation driven to irrational acts. They may also make a priority for the elimination of the twin evils of poverty and joblessness.

A small society should be realistic about the value and importance of varied life experience for it is most precious in the emerging tough times.

A leader who can create opportunity not an opportunistic candidate is required.

Peter Polack

Peter Polack was a Reuters stringer and criminal defence lawyer in the Cayman Islands. He  is the author of The Last Hot Battle of the Cold War: South Africa vs. Cuba in the Angolan Civil War (2013), Jamaica, The Land of Film (2017) and Guerrilla Warfare: Kings of Revolution (2018).He was a contributor to Encyclopedia of Warfare (2013) and his latest book entitled Soviet Spies Worldwide: Country by Country, 1940–1988 will be published by McFarland.