Religious orders have, through the years, adopted a very interesting system of how to elect their leaders from among their flock. This is based on a two-term rule, every term consisting of four or five years. Once the terms are over, the provincial will again join the flock as a normal monk.

Such a system ensures that no one will have absolute power and the order can advance and flourish with new leaders and fresh ideas.

Nobody should have a monopoly over his party, the government or any other aspect of political life

This could be an ideal system to apply in own political scenario. Thus, nobody would have a monopoly over his party, the government or any other aspect of political life.

After years in authority, the tendency is for heads to become big and people arrogant. The common citizen tend to contribute to such a situation and, in addition, some of those in power will definitely end up surrounded by unscrupulous people whose interests will be none other than their own private ones.

In my view this is very similar to what happens to the common citizen.

Two people start courting and the more they are in love the more they look ahead. They will start thinking of acquiring a plot of land where to build their home and, together, they will plan their house.

They will work together for years going in such details as what material to chose, the colour of the tiles, find a builder and so on.

They will not stop until their house is standing. They will then move on to do it up and furnish it.

Of course, to do so both of them will be working hard to finance the project.

Once all is done, they can enjoy the fruit of their hard work with satisfaction and joy. A good job well done.

As usually happens in most cases, the normal chores are done but very little if anything else to improve on their previous work in relation to their house. Most will instinctively conclude that their work is finished, that mission accomplished.

Their priority will now be their children, many parents often even opting to live their children’s lives.

In a way, the same can be said of the political parties in this country.

For so many years, now, we have had a two-party system. They do alternate in the running of the country. However, past experience has shown that whenever a political party remains in power for more than 10 years, they tend to become, as noted above, arrogant and abusive. They will believe they are there to stay. That nobody can topple them. They also tend to lack energy and ideas.

When that happens, it will mean it is time for change. Perhaps not change the political party itself but definitely all the ministers and the leaders. They will have to be replaced. New people. New faces. New ideas and a pot brimming with energy for change.

Let’s have another simple everyday example.

Say a parent dies. He leaves everything to his married son or daughter. The house contained everything that was desired by the parents. The heirs move in. They go from room to room to evaluate not only what is there but also to see whether these meet their needs.

The wife starts complaining that the canopy on the bed isn’t to her liking. The kitchen isn’t exactly the way she would like it to be. So on and so forth.

On the other hand, the husband wants to change the garage, the car, the garden...

They also agree to get an architect to see whether the old house had any damage. If damage was spotted repair work would begin immediately.

The bottom line: fresh ideas were needed to make changes and improvements.

Heirs do not only get what is good as they may also find out they had also inherited debts that had to be settled.

Even in politics, one can build on the good that was left and, through new ideas and policies, improve our collective ‘house’. However, one must also look out for any mishaps, such as financial burdens that were inherited too.

In the circumstances, I wish the best of luck to one and all for a better and prosperous future.