Leaders Change, The Nation’s Face Does Not: For How Long Will the Politics of ‘Cheap Consensus’ Continue?

The actors are being changed, the trailer is out. This is the all-too-familiar scene of the political theater. At the start of every ‘season,’ new alliances, new promises, new trailers of hope are presented. But behind the curtain, the play remains the same: ‘There’s a lot of empty talk, and the country bears the burden.’ This burden is borne by the common citizen, we are the ones who cry out in protest, yet there is no one to listen. Leaders who have reached the gates of power have stopped listening to ‘the people’s voice.’

In this country, the politics of ‘cheap consensus’ has taken deep root. Principles are sold for power, political parties stitch themselves together, and the nation’s direction gets buried under the weight of the status quo. The irony of ‘having airports but no airplanes’ clearly signals the suspended animation of our development. Physical infrastructure can be built, but the capability, vision, and resolve to make it take flight are lacking. The result: a pretense of progress in the name of progress.

The most worrisome thing is that ‘those who govern are never truly chosen by the people.’ The seat of responsibility remains empty. When policies fail, when development is blocked, when economic crisis hits, the tendency to be accountable is zero. The cycle continues: change another actor, make another trailer, and lead the people back into the electoral arena.

To break this, the ordinary citizen must stop giving their ‘cheap consensus.’ We must demand a political culture based not merely on hope and emotion, but on performance and accountability. If the actors are to be changed, then the entire script of the play must change. To change the nation’s ‘pace,’ we don’t need trailers, but concrete action plans, transparent leadership, and unwavering national commitment.

We must ask every candidate and party: Do you have the fuel to fly the ‘airplane’ shown in your trailer? Or is an empty runway at the airport our future? Time has already begun to run out. It is not enough just to protest; it is essential to also awaken the collective will to transform these voices into power.