Elections in The Netherlands...

I remember the excitement back in 1998 when I was eligible to vote for the first time in the Dutch general elections. I guess it made me feel grown up and like I was a part of something bigger in my country. Today, approximately 75% of the Dutch went to the polling stations to cast their votes. Unfortunately, I was not among them. Firstly, being out of touch with the world outside of Sierra Leone, I didn't know about the general elections until about 2 weeks ago. Secondly, because I am not a resident and had to 'sign out' of Middelburg, I didn't receive a voters card. By the time I knew about the elections it was too late to sort out the paper work through the Hague (it takes 6 weeks). Next time!

It will be interesting to see what happens. I am by no means a politician and know very little about my government. What I do know is that there are 150 seats in parliament, which will likely be filled by about 10 different parties. This means that the main parties will need to form a coalition. The previous coalition collapsed. Let's see what happens this time. Let's hope that the principles voters based their votes on aren't totally skewed due to coalition-forming and that the parties keep the best interest of the voters in mind.

Just thinking ahead a bit: it's just over 2 months till the elections in Sierra Leone. Let's pray they are as peaceful...