As power changes hands
No matter how good and powerful they may be, leaders come and go and vanish in the abyss of oblivion. People may not even recognize a famous political leader after he has been stripped off his power. Some may even become an embarrassment to the people who elected them to office while others get old, weary, and sick.
As experienced in democracies around the world, a leader that stays on for too long in his office becomes a painful spectacle. Good thing there is election that assures us that our leaders’ mandate is either renewed or cut short to give way to a new breed of leaders.
As new leaders take the helm of government in the coming days, we pin our hope that the country will change for the better. However, transition of power will not always result in better outcomes. There is a difference between success in campaigning and success in governing. Campaigning focuses on improving a candidate’s image to win the votes of the people while governing is the real deal that can either make or break the lives of the constituents.
During the campaign, it is more convenient for the challenger to attack the policies adopted by the incumbent just to gain an advantage during the campaign, only to discover that the policies of the incumbent are backed up with sound governance principles unpopular they may be.
As power changes hands this week, may the neophytes in the office discern that although the old, weary, and sick may be an embarrassment to the people, not all their policies and programs must be discarded like garbage and replaced with new ones that may eventually not work at all.
New leaders should not only usher in new ideas and innovations but must also ensure that the good old ones are retained, reenforced, and made better.