After a month of meetings, speeches, public events and activity on social networks, campaigning for the FNC has now ended. Today is a day of “silence” before tomorrow’s vote, during which candidates and their representatives – and, indeed, the media – must refrain from endorsing or promoting individuals.
But the past four weeks have been fascinating to watch, as 329 candidates, some of whom had never run public campaigns before, have sought to reach the public in any way they can think of. So we have seen the more traditional forms of campaigning: open homes and tents set out outside of villas for citizens to meet the candidates. We have seen the very personal touch, with candidates waiting outside voting locations to greet voters and offer last-minute persuasion.
We have seen advertisements by the side of the road, candidates choosing photographs they think will appeal at 80 kilometres – some show them smiling, some serious, some staring into the distance. Adverts have appeared in newspapers and candidates themselves have appeared on television.
When the first round of FNC elections took place in 2006, Twitter had only just been launched; when the second round took place in 2011, neither WhatsApp nor Instagram had become ubiquitous. Yet all three, plus Facebook, have now become essential to the campaigns of FNC candidates. Instagram and Twitter, in particular, have allowed candidates to display their interests, their achievements and their credentials to a mass audience.
The colourful campaigning is now finished. The winners will have four years to prove themselves, the rest will have four years to prepare new ways of getting their message across. And by 2019, who knows what methods of communication – virtual reality speeches? Campaigning on hoverboards? – will have been invented for a new generation of candidates to campaign with?
