Politics & Power Quote by Haile Gebrselassie

There is something disarmingly careful in the way Haile Gebrselassie auditions himself for politics: “a little bit politician” is both a hedge and a test balloon. He’s not storming the gates; he’s letting the public picture him there. That modesty is strategic. Athletes who cross over into governance are routinely accused of mistaking fame for competence, so he preemptively narrows the claim. Not “I’m ready to rule,” but “I’m already halfway in.”

The real work of the quote is the moral reframing. “Not because I want power” is a defensive line that acknowledges the obvious suspicion: politics is where influence, money, and ego go to bulk up. By naming that suspicion, he tries to neutralize it, swapping the standard ambition narrative for a service narrative. It’s also a subtle transfer of athletic legitimacy: a champion’s discipline, endurance, and national pride repackaged as public qualification.

Context matters. Gebrselassie isn’t just any athlete; he’s a global icon in a country where sports heroes can function like unofficial diplomats, proof of national capability on an international stage. That kind of symbolic capital can become political capital, especially in places where institutions may be distrusted and personal credibility travels faster than party platforms. “What I think I could do for the people” is intentionally vague, but the vagueness is the point: it invites broad projection. The subtext is, Trust me first; the policy can come later.