We often hear politicians saying how they want government to empower the people, so that people can do things.

But that's not the way it is. 'Thomas Jefferson wrote that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. The Constitution was not written to tell us what to do. The Constitution establishes the relationship among the three branches of government- the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. It tells the government what it may do, and it also tells the government what it may not do. The government may not restrict our speech. The government may not tell one how to pray. The government may not do a lot of things. Government is a lot better at taking things away than it is at giving, but most of all, the government does not empower the people. The people empower the government. Ours is a government of the people. We are not people who belong to the government.

In the coming months, we will not be electing masters, we will be choosing employees, servants of our will, guardians of our rights. The politician does not tell us what to do. We tell them what to do.

It is not the politician’s job to take our money and give it back. It is his job to take what money we must have to protect and serve us - and to do that job as efficiently as possible. Government service may be an important duty, and a great responsibility, but it is not supposed to be a blessing for those who serve. It is our government servants who are supposed to sacrifice for us, not we to sacrifice for them.

If we do not elect the right person, it’s our fault. If we do not demand the best, we will not get the best. If we do not give the right measure of power to the right kind of people, then the wrong people will take more power than they need and they will use it the way they want, not the way we want.

That is why our duty to elect the right people to serve us is so important. Many operate their own businesses and hire people to work for them. Most of us own homes, and sometimes we hire plumbers, electricians, carpenters to do work for us. We try to hire the right people for the work because we pay for that work, and we want it done right. When our child is sick, we try to pick the best physician - and we pay attention to what that doctor does and how well he or she does it. Why? Because there is nothing more important to us than the life of our child.

This nation is also our child. Sri Lanka is a country forever young. Sri Lanka needs the right people to look after her, which is our job to pick the right people, regardless of party, or race, or gender, or anything other than talent and integrity. I can't and I won't tell you which candidate merits your vote. God gave us a free will. The Constitution is there to protect our right to exercise that will. If we fail to exercise our will intelligently, then we have betrayed ourselves, and no one else can fix that for us.

Tomorrow is our day. Let’s use it to hire the right people.