Yesterday Peru held their first round of elections. The politicians in the running include the daughter of the former dictator, an ex-president and a host of other lesser known candidates. Check out the BBC break down of the election here.
As the results come in the second and third place winners are still not clear. I think they have until tomorrow to officially announce the winner.
One thing was clear though that throughout the election the people that I've met have been engaged in politics to the extent I've never seen before in Canada. My coworkers constantly talk about the election in the lunch room and almost everyone I meet from taxi drivers to students in my dance class wants to offer their political opinion to anyone who will listen. It's fascinating. The attitude is mostly that the individual has to choose the best candidate out of a bad lot. Mario Vargas Llosa likens the possiblity of having to chose between Keiko, the dictator's daughter, and Ollanta, a left-wing politician, like having to chose between AIDS and cancer.
Although I would never liken Harper to AIDS, I think it's a great lesson for the upcoming Canadian election. If we want more young people to be involved in politics - why not talk about it? Fight voter apathy through lunch room conversations and elevator speeches!
I do think we need to vote, and to hold the politicians accountable. Or at least show them that we remember their shennanigans!
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