Wednesday 24 July 2013

Post-Election Stress Syndrome

Ladies queueing up to cast their vote

Bhutan went to the polls on July 13, 2013 and voted to power the opposition – People’s Democratic Party (PDP). The erstwhile ruling party – Druk Phuensum Tshogpa (DPT) will be the reluctant shadow to the government.
An election often brings out major changes. If the incumbent party returns to power, there won’t be major changes. However, major changes can be expected if the opposition who has been baying for blood for the last 5 years wins an election. After all, nothing can affect the citizenry more than a change in government.
Politicians are wont to make promises and pledges during the electioneering period. Sometimes, it sounds and reads like a competition of who can promise louder, never mind the do-ability and implementability of pledges. The newness and relevance of the pledges provide the clues for change. 
The Bhutanese electorate is maturing rapidly, but it is still naïve and emotion laden. This is evident from the victory it handed out to DPT in the primaries and the drubbing it bestowed on the ruling party in the general elections – both within a time period of about six weeks. Ever heard of a better voter swing?
No matter who wins an election, the counting of the ballot is usually followed by emotional let down and explosive reactions. The shaping up of events after July 13 must be seen in this light. How politicians react and behave after the final results separate the leaders from the rest. In such cases, the opposite of leader is not follower. When all followers vie for the limited leadership space, both the leader and his followers behave more like a pack of hungry hyenas. Just like the loud-mouthed animals that move in packs and eat rotten, the vanquished in an election start laughing (i.e crying) very loudly. The idea is to gather all the like-minded together and try and snatch the kill from the tiger! It is a common and basic advise that if you want to be a leader you got to act like one. You can’t act like a hyena and aspire to be the lion. 
The moment after the ballots are counted can be overwhelming to many, especially the aged, the over-involved, and the self-perceived invincible. It is then that we hear of highly prophetic views as, ‘the unimaginable happened’. Anyone who cannot imagine his own defeat is least prepared for victory. He reeks of arrogance and is highly impolite to his opponent who beat him.
Actually you don’t fault politicians for the way they behave and communicate after losing an election. They are struck by, what psephologists and behavioral scientists call the ‘Post-Election Stress Syndrome. The disease seems to renders losers quite incapable and depraved of the grey matter in the aftermath of an election.
Within a short span of democratic traditions, Bhutan has already experienced a highly stressful election because of numbing news fatigue and continual media over-exposure. Yet, one worries that the real problems may be yet to come. Personal anxiety, professional panic and poorly thought out decisions may be on the horizon regardless of the campaign period high mood.
The heat is yet to subside and the dust has not fully settled on Bhutan’s second parliamentary elections. Has it taken rather long?  The day after tomorrow on the auspicious nineteenth day of the sixth month of the water female snake year, His Majesty the King will formally pronounce Tshering Tobgay as the second prime minister of democratic Bhutan by offering the sacred dakyen. Soon after that, the cabinet will be announced and the new government will be raring to go. One hopes that the reluctance of the DPT to sit as the opposition party will have fully dissipated by then and that it will be ready to support PDP to steer our land into the next strategic 5 years. The PDP, DPT, you, I, and indeed all the Bhutanese people will have a role to play. We are a team and together everyone achieves more!