SOLDIERS & POLITICS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 20 September 1943, Page 4

SOLDIERS & POLITICS

* PUBLICATION OF PARTY STATEMENTS IN “N.Z.E.F. TIMES” ALL CANDIDATES IDENTIFIED POLLING FROM TURKISH BORDER TO TRIPOLI. (N.Z.E.F. Official News Service) CAIRO, September 17. Interest in the general election is considerably heightened by the publication in the “N.Z.E.F. Times” of the policy statements of the contestant parties and a general topic of conversation among New Zealand troops is a discussion of the merits and demerits of the respective candidates, and of the aims and objects of the various political organisations. Most revealing are the many and varied forms in which democracy can be applied, but'the furnishing of policy statements, as well as a full identification of every candidate, has at least prevented soldiers voting in the dark. Four pages of the “N.Z.E.F. Times” are devoted to the election, of which the organisation extends from Cairo to Tripoli, in the west, and to the Turkish border in the east. Every effort has been made to facilitate voting, which it is hoped will be completed within the next few days, in order that the results may be forwarded to New Zealand in time for inclusion in the Dominion returns. Polling is being carried out in the field during mobile training, as well as in base and nondivisional units. Two N.Z.E.F. farmers’ associations have been formed in the Middle East, under the auspices of the Y.M.C.A., to enable soldier farmers to exchange „ ideas and hear qualified lecturers on • farming conditions and difficulties. Dis- ■ cussions have been well attended.