Missing the wood for the trees; Local Government elections are about the trees and not the wood

The trees

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THE quotation “Missing the wood for the trees” means being unable to see the whole picture or larger context because one is fixated on minor details or individual components. It suggests a lack of perspective and an inability to understand the bigger picture due to being too focused on the small parts. This catchy phrase originated as part of the works of John Heywood, an English writer known for his plays, poems, and collection of proverbs, circa 1546. It is an idiom used of someone who is too involved in the details of a problem to look at the situation as a whole. (https://www.cmfgroup.com/blog/health-care-professionals/sometimes-we-cannot-see-the-forest-for-the-trees/#:~:text=This%20catchy%20phrase%20originated%20as,the%20situation%20as%20a%20whole)

However, Local Government elections in fact must be about the small parts that constitute the whole. It must be about local issues and which party or individual at grass-roots level is close to the people and can work with the people to attend to matters at local level. It is a misplaced assumption and a misguided promotion that Local Government elections are about national issues, and they are like a referendum on a party in power at national level. As much as a wood would be barren if there are no trees in it, a country would be similarly barren if it does not have a strong, participative local government that represents the people at grassroots level.

A strong local government system should be the backbone of a country's political system, but not necessarily constituted as a partisan political system as would be mentioned later in this article.