With the changing of the guards pursuing its peculiar course among our premier political parties, amidst buzzing speculations of yet another general election, we can expect a stormy season of political discourses on the electronic and print airwaves. I suppose it will only get worse in the months ahead. Malaysiakini is no exception, and the letters column provides plenty of food for thought.

It is only natural that the focus of discussion is usually on the various political parties on both sides of the power divide. After all, we do practise a semblance of parliamentary democracy, and political parties and politicians are the main actors in the unfolding drama that we call politics.

On paper at least, ruling and opposition parties provide voters with choices. The options they offer in terms of ideology, policies, and programmes are supposed to manifest the freedom that citizens enjoy by right, in a full embodiment of what it means to live in an independent sovereign

nation.

Thank God we do have a relatively free forum like malaysiakini , where commentators can compare the merits and demerits of different political parties and engage in meaningful debates, in the hope that readers can consider all views and eventually make a reasonable political decision when casting their vote.

But my question is: how do people choose and vote for any political party, or any alliance of political parties? What constitutes "reasonableness" in that choice?