D. N. Vercáriâ
Group: citizens
(4498 posts total)
(last post: March 15, 2008 - 16:51)
Citizen #26:
Dieter N Vercáriâ | > > 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.
MIA? What does this abbreviation mean?
> 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.
A change of the electoral system could of course be achieved by other means than by voting the Seneschál down: By proposing and discussing a respective law. Your (paraphrased) call "vote for STV by voting Seneschál Börnatfighlheu down" is kind of missing the main point of a vote of (no) confidence.
__________________
- Dieter
|
