“IT’S important for everybody in the country to get involved in the country’s politics.

“Because politic is all about the nation, what people do, what affects the lives of people and what people desire the nation to be.”

Wind-Leader of Democratic Alliance Party (DAP), Hon Rick Hou made the statement during the political party’s national convention recently.

He said politics is about the life of a nation. It deals with everyday issues that affect the lives of ordinary people in the country. It is the same as everything else to do with public interest.

“I am saying that the political affairs and political issues of this country are as important as all other matters of public interest.

“If it is in the public interest to have a clean environment, so it is in everybody’s interest that we have political stability.

“If law and order is everybody’s business, so is politics. If you are concern about the economy of this country, you should also concern about the political affairs of the country.

“That may include areas such as, education of our children, infrastructure, clean drinking water in rural villages and the general development of the country,” Mr Hou said.

He said every issue of public interest have a political angle to it.

With that it’s important that the right people are elected in offices, right people provide advice to politicians, right people are designing policies, right people are managing party politics and right people serve on the party committee.

Adding that when all these right people are in place the country will make huge strides and a huge headway in its development aspirations.

He said politics is therefore not a matter to be frowned on, ignored, shunned or left to only a few.

“Everybody in this country should not only get registered and vote on the polling day, but we should all participate in directing the course of our country.

“In this way everybody will help shape the development course of the country.

“Of course only few of us are directly involved as members of Parliament or at the provincial level,” Mr Hou said.

But it’s better if people or the majority to get involved at the party level, he said.

Mr Hou said this is where one can help articulate development policies, help influence the political landscape of this country and thereby help shape the future of Solomon Islands.