la garçâ malpadert
Group: admins
(4379 posts total)
(last post: March 13, 2008 - 16:29)
Citizen #22:
Miestrâ Schivâ | > Apparently Dp. Crova is intending to offer the citizens of this country a choice through referendum between our present electoral system and the Single Transferable Vote, the latter which would facilitate indepndent and non-party candidates.
>
> Do I understand it correctly: You want to replace the party-based CoD election system by a personality-based system which uses STV, i.e., you want to make a step towards a penguinea-isation of the Republic of Talossa? ;-)
Notwithstanding the smug nature of the President's comments, I can confirm that, yes, if Diarmuid Crovâ is re-elected Seneschál, he will put forward a law allowing the people of the Republic by referendum to choose between the current Saint-Laguë party-list system and a STV/Hare-Clark system, as used in the Republic of Ireland, Tasmania, and, yes, the former Free Commonwealth of Penguinea.
Diarmuid believes that the apparent collapse of the MRP parliamentary caucus shows that the party list system is "broken" and must be replaced with something - and STV was always our "second preference". While I am not totally convinced of this, and would quite frankly prefer reforms to the list system than chucking it out, I do agree that the time has come to seriously discuss electoral reform. I have always supported the closed-list system in that it encourages party building. But I think recently it has encouraged it a bit too much. Parties who want to gain government have had to recruit in order to build a list at all costs - the downside of this is shown by the fact that 2/3 of the Peculiarist Deputies didn't actually want to be there, and that one has quit and the other is MIA. A system where only big parties can have a chance at becoming government is encouraging recruitment of people who really shouldn't be in political parties at all.
I am not sure which way I would vote in the referendum, but if the ZRT is government again in a week's time, I will certainly help draft the legislation - with reference, yes, to old Penguinean traditions, which were proven to work and work quite well (within limits). I call upon Dp. dàl Már in particular: if you want STV in the Talossan Republic to get a chance, vote për on the Vote of No Confidence.
Miestrâ Schivâ
Túischac'h dàl Camerâ dels Deputats
Editor, Qator Itrìns
Chief High Language Geek of the Talossan Republic
Eminençâ Grischun dels Zefençadéirs dàl Repúblicâ Talossán
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