It is of little or no consequence as to the
colour of the banner; whethe r the
blue of National or red of Labour. What is of real importance however is that such
candidates immediately loose the ir
independence (real or perceived –it makes no difference) once a particular
affiliation is made.
One of the
greatest strengths of Local Government is –for the
most part - councillor’s are voted for according to the ir
personal beliefs as to what is in the
best interests of the region and not
because of any affiliation to any interest group.
Once a candidate accepts the protective cover of a wider grouping, the re is an undoubted expectation that such candidates
will bend to the will of the collective rathe r
that maintain the independence
voters expect from Local Government politicians.
The task the n
becomes one of being a “team player” within the
collective and is a rathe r meagre
objective. Conformity with the
conventional wisdom of the day is a
relatively simply task. Sometimes that conformity includes some personal difficulty
of having to swallow a dead rat or two but the
really hard task is to speak against the
conventional wisdom and vote no.
Central Government party politics does not
allow for the so called peoples
representatives to decide issues for the mselves.
The party effectively chooses the
candidate who must the n follow the party line or start looking for a new job. (There
is a very similar system operating in Communist China) Under our system of MMP the placing on a list decided by the party bosses ensures virtually all comply. Do we
as really want to extend that system to Local Government? Where does a genuine representative
democracy sit within such a system?
Traditionally within Local Government,
candidates funded the ir own campaigns
rathe r than seek assistance from a
political party’s organizing committee. The now defunct Citizens Association in
Dunedin the r
of not the y were of “suitable standing”
to represent that grouping. Some were of course invited to stand under the Citizens banner so where did that leave the ir perceived independence.
The reason why the
current “Ugly American” Donald Trump is
doing so well in the race for the Republican nomination is probably that the
public are tired of the political
party machines of eithe r hue
dominating politics in the USA
The fragile shards of a true representative
democracy continually groan and crack under the
strain of elected representatives not fully understanding the ir only allegiance must be to up hold a truly
democratic process for and on behalf of the
people.
1 comment:
I do see the point you are making, but at the same time I have found it difficult to know who to vote for in local elections precisely because candidates don't give a party affiliation. They all say that they are in favour of motherhood and apple pie and that they are determined to do their best to eliminate waste, deliver value for money and to make (local area) a better place to live, leaving it impossible to differentiate them or to know how they are likely to vote on controversial issues. Party affiliation provides a useful shorthand to assess that
Post a Comment