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Dear Editor,

WITH the local elections months away in May, it was a bit of a surprise to see the “political broadcast” in Mr. John Rule's letter last Saturday (Daily Bulletin, 3rd February).

Of course, his advice for foreign residents to register for voting rights is a good thing, although I have read somewhere the deadline was the end of last month, but he could not resist a bit of Opposition party bashing, and a plug for the existing foreign department. I am not sure if municipalities really need an entire, costly department set up to deal with general enquiries from some residents; on really important issues like building or reforming a property, most residents would be wise to use their own gestor/lawyer/architect who will be bi-lingual and professionally qualified. As a source for enticing foreign resident voters, this is probably where the opposition baulk at such a publicly paid for entity.

It is the same old chestnut come election time - those in power try to rake up some mud to throw at their predecessors, those in Opposition point to the failings of the currently elected. A lot of this is not properly explained, misleading, and sometimes completely untrue. What would be most helpful and informative is if the Majorca Daily Bulletin in the run up to the elections, say each week, picked one municipality where foreign voters might make a difference, give a brief outline of its recent past and present history of events, and then particularly in respect of the current party holding power, a simple two-column comparison, i.e. what the party promised to do if elected in their manifesto, and exactly what they have done, or not as the case may be.

As has been said before, “a politician's promise is as false as a whore's smile”, and the electorate have the right to know at least if those currently in power kept their word. If not, maybe it's time for a “new broom”.

Graham Phillips, Palma de Majorca