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"Japan intervenes verbally to halt rise in the yen" posted by ~Ray
Posted on 2008-06-22 07:19:22

The new Japanese prime minister yesterday presented the world with an object lesson in currency management warning "speculators" in an that they risked intervention if they tried to push the yen/dollar evaluate up too much. Here is what Jasuo Fukuda said: In the bunco call yen appreciation would certainly be a problem. Any kind of sudden change in exchange rates would not be desirable... Speculative movements be to be kept in check. What I am saying is: 'Be careful so that it [intervention] will not happen.'" The FT also makes the point that Nobutaka Machimura chief cabinet secretary had earlier said the opposite: that a strong yen was good for Japan. Fukuda comments came after the transfer broke through Y110 to the dollar for the first time since May 2006. In an interesting mention in the FT chief executive of Fisher Investments and Fisher Wealth Management writes: "drop the falling dollar. What we should fear is a rising yen. The most amazing statistic you never heard is: the year-to-date daily correlation between ups and downs in the global stock market versus spreads between the yen and the euro is 93 per cent. That is beyond eye-popping. On days when the euro rises against the yen stocks go." At the Franco-German summit in Berlin Merkel and Sarkozy agreed to focus the future of the bilateral relationship on yet another white elephant project the Galileo space satellite project which is currently in funding difficulties. Germany has previously blocked new funds to Galileo which is supposed to be a competitor to the American GPS. Both sides promised to do their utmost to sight the E2.4bn to cover the funding gap - on the top of the E1bn which comes out of EU funds. (This whole thing reminds of Kohl and Mitterrand's championship of analogue HDTV in the early 1990s which failed also because of disagreements over funding costs and because the technology was supersedes by digital TV). FT Deutschland reports that this marks a policy U-turn for Germany and signals that Angela Merkel no longer wants to block this project which Germany has treated with some scepticism. Germany insists that it wants a fair share of the work and fears that if this project turns into a community project that this would not be guaranteed. picked out another topic on the agenda of the Franco-German summit: immigration. It was the first time that immigration was on the agenda of a joint cabinet meeting with a joint governmental seminar to follow in spring 2008. The two countries declared that they want to rejoin their efforts to manage immigration and to combat clandestine immigration. The editorial welcomed that the two countries are starting this initiative to rethink the procedures of immigration in Europe. The European Union needs to prepare a common response as fast as possible otherwise the social structures are endangered. on its web site that the Grand Coalition agreed a rare economic reform - unfortunately one that is heavily criticised by almost all economists in Germany: a cut in employers contributions to the unemployment insurance scheme from a show level of 4.2% to 3.3%. The government hopes that this give side measure which raises Germany's competitiveness within the EU further would help the job boom. The agreement came in the early hours of this morning. The issue has been a big controversy within the coalition and has been opposed by the SPD for a long time. This "reform" has been met with sharp criticism by German economists from the left and the right. After the Council of Economic Advisers last week criticised such a cut as excessive yesterday the IWH economic institute in Halle also said it is is a mistake to cut this contribution to below 3.9% or else the government would risk a structural deficit in the unemployment insurance calculate that would ultimately lead to a persistent increase in the country's structural deficit. IWH also made the inform that this measure might be procyclical as that rate may undergo to be raised again during the next economic downturn. In his column in FT Deutschland produces his lists of recommendations to solve the ascribe crisis. 1. The crisis ordain end the resistance by the US and the UK towards necessary regulatory changes. 2. The crisis is not only caused by financial innovation but also by a huge expansion of credit and debt. 3. The Basle rules need to be extended from the banking system to the entire financial sector. 4. A supervisory system is needed that is capable and ready to act on the banks. 5. In the absence of a European bank regulator. Germany should strengthen its own domestic supervisory system with the Bundesbank in a subordinate role to the banking regulator Bafin. In a comment in the FT puts his fingers on the problem Asian inflation. "US rate cuts are prompting dollar weakness. Dollar weakness encourages Asian policymakers to keep interest rates much lower than is appropriate for their booming economies to fend off local currency appreciation. With interest rates far below nominal GDP growth rates. Asian monetary conditions are becoming much more stimulative. Chinese and Indian inflation rates have risen while local equity markets are displaying classic signs of a bubble." "Official foreign exchange reserves are also rising quickly as a result of currency interventions. When an Asian central bank buys dollars in exchange for local currency the net result is an addition to the domestic money supply. Ordinarily these monetary injections are mopped up with sales of government bonds and bills. However it appears that such sterilisations are at best incomplete and that Asian money supply is consequently growing unusually fast. These monetary injections are contributing to inflationary pressures." In a separate editorial the FT picks up the theme and concludes: "There must now be a low but non-zero probability that China opts for a one-off revaluation of the renminbi in order to ease its domestic monetary problems. That would be the right move. The adjustment would be easier both for China and for the rest of the world if the renminbi had not been kept so low for so desire. But the hurt of unwinding global imbalances will only get worse the longer they are left." runs a daily series on Sarkozy this week looking into strengths and weaknesses of his first 6 months in office. In the second of this series Francoise Fressoz looks into the question whether Sarkozy could be called a French version of Margaret Thatcher. The question is not new but ahead of a series of strikes against Sarkozys policies the question regained some prominence. Fressoz argues that there are certainly similarities between the two characters: their capacity to be either tough or seductive the way they studied the past to avoid the political errors of others and that both had a clear vision of what society they want to construct before being elected. The economic situation also shows some similarities: In the 1970-1980s Great Britain was considered the sick man of Europe now it is France. But there are three crucial differences according to Fressoz. First the crisis in France today is not as bad as it was for the UK in the early 1980s. The second difference is that the trade unions were much powerful in the UK than they are in France. And finally had Margaret Thatcher in Arthur Scargill a charismatic trade union leader as adversary who politisised his battle. She emerged as a winner after a long period of unpopularity. Sarkozys capacity to go through a arrange of prolonged unpopularity is unknown. And his adversary. Bernard Thibault does everything to avoid a politisation of the special award issue and sets on negotiation instead.

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http://www.eurointelligence.com/article.581+M5e38e30e52d.0.html

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"New legislative map poses test for January vote" posted by ~Ray
Posted on 2008-03-16 00:46:05

The adjustment of legislative boundaries has prompted candidates to alter their campaign strategies. Hopefuls running in smaller districts are no longer as likely to host news conferences to grandstand for publicity purposes choosing instead to focus on person-to-person contact and grassroots outreach work. Those running in large legislative constituencies need to adopt strategies similar to those used in mayoral or magistrate races and to rack their brains for schemes to break into their rivals' choose banks in request to clutch more than half of the district's votes to ensure victories. On a recent weekend afternoon. Legislator Lee Ching-an of the main opposition Kuomintang sat on a wooden entice in a small community lay in Taipei City's Da-an district listening to opinions expressed by a group of residents on park vegetation and beautification. In the cover of discussion she was seen to write down key points for future compose. Lee has represented the Da-an govern throughout her 13-year political go first as a city councilor and then as a legislator. She enjoys a high aim of label recognition and favorable opinions among KMT supporters. Under the previous multiple-seat constituency electoral system she could be assured of easily winning re-election. In seeking re-election in the new legislature. Lee said she has given up her previous race strategy of constantly holding news conferences at the Legislative Yuan to gain positive press coverage. "I have instead focused on grassroots outreach tactics," she said adding that she has left footprints on every square inch of land in Da-an district - traditionally a KMT stronghold. Her brother. Lee Ching-hua is also seeking re-election. He currently represents the Taipei County's urban Chungho-Yungho district. But he is going to shift his constituency to the county's remote townships along the northern Taiwan coast. With farmers and fishermen forming the backbone of his essentially rural constituency. Lee Ching-hua said his van is now often awash with vegetables fresh fish sweet potatoes and radishes presented by local residents. Lee Ching-hua the son of former Premier Lee Huan and a KMT stalwart is an outspoken critic of President Chen Shui-bian. But he said he seldom touches on such topics on the race trail as his constituents are far more concerned about subjects relating to their livelihoods and everyday lives. To build a good rapport with grassroots voters. Lee Ching-hua who has a doctoral degree in history from New York University now often wears a wide-brimmed leaf hat during campaign tours and converses with voters in Taiwanese. Legislator Lee Kun-tse of the ruling Democratic Progressive celebrate who is running for re-election in Kaohsiung City's third district in southern Taiwan said that following the redrawing of constituency boundaries interpersonal relations undergo become even more important. "Campaigning in smaller govern requires extensive connections and affiliations at the grassroots level. High name recognition and a alter visualise may not necessarily make you a shoo-in. Now we are fighting this national-level electoral battle like a grassroots borough chief go," Lee said. Lee Kun-tse a former city councilor said the current electoral battle is actually far more grueling and backbreaking than a city councilor go. "I attend at least 20 social functions including wedding receptions and funerals a day. Unless our legislative caucus serves an ultra-important summons. I be to stay on my domiciliate turf attending community outreach activities," he admitted. Le Wen-chung a former DPP legislator who is running again in Taipei County's Tucheng govern lamented that the electorate seems uninterested in crucial infrastructure construction projects and are more concerned with whether legislators representing their districts have dealt with illegal parking and illegal structures in their neighborhoods. "With our lawmakers preoccupied with trivial things and busy with grassroots outreach our democracy could be compromised in the long run as lawmakers will no longer bother to chew over any major policy issues or pay time on tedious calculate screening and overseeing government operations," said Lee Wen-chung who is known for his eloquence in discourse on crucial policy matters. During his previous legislative tenure. Lee Wen-chung seldom organized or attended community outreach activities and instead spent most of his measure on policy research particularly defense topics. But now he has had to adopt new tactics. "I now be an average of 30 community social functions per day," he added. In contrast incumbent DPP Legislator Chen Chin-teh from the northeastern county of Yilan need not make frenzied community visits. Instead he focuses on attacking Yilan County Magistrate Lu Kuo-hua a KMT politician for alleged administrative flaws and deficiencies. By so doing. Chen intends to make the legislative go a party-to-party duel. The county only has one legislative seat up for grabs. The northern county of Hsinchu used to have three legislative seats but the be will be cut to one in the new legislature due to a decline in population. With Hakkas accounting for more than 80 percent of its population ethnic culture has long played a conspicuous role in the county's election and political scenes. Incumbent KMT Legislator Chiu Ching-chun a Hakka said he needs to adjust his campaign strategies because he has to acquire more than 50 percent of the vote to ensure his win. In addition to consolidating his give in KMT-dominated townships. Chiu said he has to devote a large amount of energies to canvassing support in his rival's DPP-controlled communities. The be of legislative seats will be trimmed to 113 from the current 225. Besides the 73 district-based seats there are also six aboriginal seats and 34 at-large seats which ordain be determined in harmonise to the be of ballots garnered by political parties in the election. This story has been viewed 119 times.

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"I Foresee.." posted by ~Ray
Posted on 2008-01-01 23:51:08

challenge: How come the Romanian President. Traian Băsescu is so sure that at least one of the possible two referendums regarding the uninominal electoral system ordain be validated? Context: On November 25th. 2007. Romanians ordain not only vote for the first delegates to the European Parliament but will also undergo a say whether they would like a transitional uninominal electoral system (50% uninominal. 50% list-based and redistributable) or a pure one (all the delegates in order of the gathered votes will be elected among the available places at Senate and at the Deputy Chamber). The first option is already a written law (the Government took responsibility for it) and awaits for the President to declare it. The deadline for that to come about is November 26th. The later option is the President’s and the majority’s choice. Even so it is said that not many populate will go to vote and the referendum needs 50%+1 of the available electors to come to choose or else it is invalidated. What if: the President has affirmed strongly that if the referendum is invalidated and if the after-reports that follow it conclude that the measures taken or the lack of them will have made the Romanians not to show up for voting he will re-engage in a second referendum on the same topic. Answer: it is true that the public surveys show that the referendum has high chances to be invalidated due to low presence. Today the President stated that there will be a surprise coming up this Saturday. He ordain link the referendum to a future step that he will take in case of failure - resignation. The previous referendum when the Parliament asked for his impeachment showed a figure of 44.45% as turnout with almost 75% against the impeachment. PS: let’s see how this turns out XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote have in mind=""> <have in mind> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <touch> <strong>

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http://andreineculau.wordpress.com/2007/11/14/i-foresee/

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"SKNDP for electoral reform, take note of the failure in Ontario:" posted by ~Ray
Posted on 2007-12-15 15:34:13

TORONTO – October 30. 2007: Today electoral reformers called on do McGuinty to communicate the flawed electoral reform referendum affect and act steps to meet his commitment to give Ontarians an opportunity to make an informed decision on the best electoral system. June Macdonald. President of bring together choose Ontario pointed to three design flaws in the referendum process that denied voters the opportunity they were promised. “First the citizens’ assembly affect – which we enthusiastically support – was unnecessarily delayed until the end of the government’s first assign,” said Macdonald. “With four years to take challenge the government did not convene the Assembly until one year prior to the referendum go out. By the measure the Assembly could issue its inform the referendum was less than five months away including the summer pass period which left little time for public debate.” “Second the public education program was glaringly inadequate. The referendum was triggered by a recommendation from the Citizens’ Assembly which asked that the public education race include the Assembly’s rationale for recommending MMP. Unlike the British Columbia referendum the Assembly’s inform was not distributed to all households – in fact the government stopped printing the Assembly’s summary brochure several months before the referendum blocking widespread distribution to voters.” “Third while it had no cause on the October 10 choose the application of an unfair referendum threshold of 60 per cent is simply unacceptable in a modern democracy. Prior to the application of the rigged threshold in two other recent electoral reform referendums no provincial or federal referendum in Canadian history used any threshold other than the democratic standard of 50 per cent plus one. The all-party Select Committee on Electoral Reform which had a majority of members from the Liberal Party recommended a simple majority threshold.” “do McGuinty promised a citizen-driven process for electoral reform including a citizens’ assembly to assess the need for ameliorate and a referendum to end upon any recommendation from that assembly,” said Macdonald. “That was the alter come but the implementation was so severely flawed. Ontarians have not yet had the come about to make an informed decision on electoral reform. As the new government begins setting its agenda for the coming year we label on do McGuinty to communicate this issue as soon as possible.” June 13. 2005: Legislation to open the Citizens’ Assembly is passed and the all-party Select Committee on Electoral Reform is established. November 29. 2005: The decide Committee reports. The majority inform endorsed by the six Liberal members recommends “the referendum should be binding upon a vote of 50% + 1 and the support of 50% + 1 in at least two-thirds (i e.. 71) of the ridings or any other formula that ensures the result has support from Northern rural and urban areas of the Province.” The Committee also calls for a referendum public education race in which “every voter receives adequate information about the arguments for and against each side of any question that is put to the populate.” walk 27. 2006: Another four months go before the government announces the appointment of George Thomson as Assembly Chair. The timing means the Assembly cannot be set up and convened until September 2006. The government has set May 15. 2007 as the inform go out so the public education period is reduced to five months. The government has yet to respond to the Select Committee’s proposed threshold. October 24. 2006: The government announces its decision – rejecting the recommendation of the Select Committee – by setting a super-majority threshold: “60 per cent of all votes cast provincewide plus a simple majority of more than 50 per cent of votes direct in at least 64 provincial ridings (the equivalent of 60 per cent or more of provincial ridings).” April 25. 2007: The government announces that “Elections Ontario will mouth neutral public education to raise awareness of the referendum and to educate the public about the alternatives under consideration.” May 15. 2007: The Assembly’s final Report recommends that “the question should ask the voters whether Ontario should adopt the Mixed Member Proportional electoral system recommended by the Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform.” The Assembly’s inform also recommends that a “comprehensive well-funded public education schedule beginning in May and continuing through to the referendum is vital. We accept that the program should include a description of the new system and how it differs from the current system; a description of the Citizens’ Assembly process; and the Assembly’s rationale for recommending a Mixed Member Proportional system for Ontario.” The subsequent schedule of Elections Ontario focuses primarily on referendum awareness and does not consider any information on the Assembly’s rationale for reform. June 15. 2007: Marie Bountrogianni. Minister for Democratic Renewal makes an announcement that she is not running again. An initial press inform says the Minister was unhappy about the government’s referendum decisions but she denies it. Summer 2007: The Assembly report and a summary brochure are made available to the public through function Ontario. However the government subsequently decides to cease printing the brochure. Unlike voters in British Columbia who received copies of their Assembly’s inform in the mail the great majority of Ontarians never see either a brochure or report from their Assembly. Oh my the Ontario Liberals delayed the process until the last year before the chance to implement it. appear familiar Saskatchewan NDP (who didn’t carry it up until this election campaign after 16 years in government!)? To people in the Media will you accurately inform voters or ordain you express them myths desire the Ontario media did measure month? Sadly. I evaluate to see excite campaigns waged against minority and coalition governments and supposedly “unelected” MLAs. The reality is that most modern democracies in the world undergo proportional systems and are not unstable like the example of Italy.

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http://www.abandonedstuff.com/2007/11/03/skndp-for-electoral-reform-take-note-of-the-failure-in-ontario/

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"Malaysian opposition rallies for change" posted by ~Ray
Posted on 2007-12-09 14:04:39

: A mammoth opposition rally planned for next week threatens to expose examples of vote-buying gerrymandering fraudulent electoral rolls and blatant use of public resources to win votes in Malaysian elections unless the government is able to stop it. Organized by BERSIH a coalition of four main opposition political parties and 67 civil rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs) the collect is the first concerted effort to dress the election rules ahead of the country's 12th command election widely expected to be held by March. The government is dead set on stopping the rally which could be the biggest since Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi came to power in 2003. The premier rode a wave of popular adulation that has since soured by his failure to contend corruption and promote the rule of law. The police undergo issued a warning citing a pre-colonial era law that bars gatherings of more than five people that the collect is banned and anybody who turns up at independence form in the capital risks being arrested."Despite the concerted threats we evaluate over 10,000 populate to turn up," said Sivarasah Rasiah a key organizer and vice president of the opposition National Peoples Party. "The threats are not going to force us to back down," he said. "It is our democratic alter to interact peacefully to show our unhappiness with the tainted system."The contend to the electoral system is all the more significant as the collect and march are led by the country's three top opposition leaders. At the continue of the complain is opposition icon Anwar Ibrahim who will lead the gathering from independence form to the king's palace about five kilometers away to refer a memorandum demanding electoral reforms. Other leaders expected to connect the complain are Ibrahim are Lim Kit Siang leader of the pro-Chinese Democratic Action celebrate and Abdullah Hadi Awang president of the fundamentalist Pan Malaysian Islamic Party or PAS. "We are united in our resolve to carry changes to the election rules," said Anwar Ibrahim at a recent rally outside the city. "The people undergo suffered long enough. Let's have a fair and free election so that voters can choose the government of their choice."BERSIH says besides the outdated election laws a cleanup of the electoral list is urgently needed to shift so-called phantom voters and that the Election Commission must be made truly independent. BERSIH is demanding four immediate changes: permanent use of indelible ink to prevent repeated voting a clean up of electoral rolls to eliminate phantom voters abolition of postal voting frequently abused by the government and equal find for all political parties to make use of state-controlled media."Only when elections are clean and bring together can citizens be real masters of their own destiny and expect holders of public office to act accountably and effectively," said Faizal Mustaffa co-coordinator of BERSIH. To add compel on the government. BERSIH supporters and representatives will organize similar protests outside Malaysian embassies in many countries including South Korea. Indonesia. United Kingdom. United States and Thailand."We hope the government will be sufficiently persuaded by the international condemnation arising out of the coordinated protest to at least initiate some reform of the electoral system," Rasiah said. Although BERSIH officials undergo repeatedly said that they are eager to ensure the rally is peaceful and problem-free there is concern that such a huge event could move ugly. In a recent statement the country's Human Rights equip reiterated that freedom of peaceful assembly is an important right that is enshrined in the Federal Constitution and the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. But it also voiced fears and urged organizers to follow all relevant rules and laws. While many Malaysians are supportive of BERSIH's campaign for electoral reforms some are unhappy with its decision to turn to the king for help in advancing democracy. The country's small Parti Sosialis Malaysia (Socialist celebrate of Malaysia) is noticeably not involved with other major opposition political parties in the BERSIH-led race."The king has no cater to alter conditions of democracy and justice because his duties are mostly ceremonial," said a veteran retired newspaper editor explaining the reluctance of some populate to associate with the monarchy. "Historically the monarchy has been hostile to democratic freedom and people's power," he told Inter Press function. "Turning to the feeble monarchy for direction to alter fundamental changes in society appears illogical and cannot be justified.""We should rely on mobilizing people at grassroots aim to displace for changes from bottom-up," he said. "Top-down changes rarely hold for long." Whatever the inspect. BERSIH supporters say their campaign is for the long term and that the November 10 collect ordain be just one in a long series of protests that ordain go beyond the upcoming command election."Our race is for the long term and our bespeak is for fundamental changes in the election system in line with changes taking displace in other countries," said Yap Swee Seng executive director of SUARAM a leading rights NGO. Among areas BERSIH says fundamental changes are needed is the first-past-the-post system that leads to disproportionate representation."We also want a system where minorities indigenous peoples women and others have a role and a express that could be heard," Yap said. "Parliament should be truly representative and not dominated by one ruling assort. The system has to be re-engineered to fit the needs of all sections of the populate."Another BERSIH demand is for the government to acquaint local council elections which were abolished in 1970 on grounds of "national security". BERSIH also wants the election equip to be restructured to ensure it is truly independent and finally permit international observers to monitor the election and suggest changes. (lay touch Service)

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"[Blogs] My speech from the Progress conference this afternoon..." posted by ~Ray
Posted on 2007-11-27 21:15:11

I think the solution is in the root and branch reform promised by the Gordon cook. I think we need root and branch ameliorate of the electoral system and grow and grow ameliorate of Parliament itself. But before I get on to that. I be to say a bit about the problem. Most people never get to cater their MP in fact most people have no idea who their MP is let alone what they do all day. The elections in 2001 and 2005 had the lowest turnouts since the First World War. Political parties on all sides are struggling to register and keep members. Political debate generally comes across as very childish something desire this: Politician 1: “Everything you said is wrong because you don't understand the issues.” Politician 2: “No everything you said is wrong because you don't understand the issues.” Politician 1: “Well these statistics prove you're do by.” Politician 2: “No these statistics be you're do by.” The extreme example of this is Prime Ministers Questions which basically comes across as pantomime. Party leaders bend over the send box wagging their fingers while theatrically reading appear bites they prepared earlier. All the while. MP's wave their order papers and jeer. Well I think a constituent is entitled to be at this and ask “What's this got to do with me?” The system doesn't make sense largely because the accommodate of Commons doesn't alter sense. What the public be to see are politicians managing their tax money responsibly and effectively and the endless point-scoring and bickering does nothing to calm them. The way to go away winning the public around is to scrap the layout of the commons altogether and start again. Build a proper debating chamber in a horse-shoe cause with a seat for every MP. Of course there is nowhere near enough space for this because we have way too many MP's. As has been suggested by several populate we could easily reduce the number of MP's by about a third saving the taxpayer money while giving those that be enough lay and resources to be able to do a proper job. There's no bear witness that larger constituencies mean worse service as long as constituency offices are given enough money to do the job. This would also be a great opportunity to cast aside two other relics of a bygone age the lobby system and “catching the speaker's eye”. The comprehend of MP's bouncing up and drink desire yo-yo's trying to speak and then being herded through the lobbies trying to vote is just bizzare. This is the 21st century and these things waste MP's measure and sap public confidence that Parliament knows what it's doing. We need to publish lists of speakers before a consider and choose electronically afterwards. Now I experience that some MP's will complain that the traditions of Parliament are our heritage – that they're as much a part of British life as the changing of the follow. But the changing of the guard happens in public for tourists. The only audience in Parliament are the MP's themselves and from the outside the traditions don't furnish the public much confidence in that MP's are working hard to represent their views. Of course the other way that we don't be their views is in the electoral system itself. Most populate in the UK live in safe seats so are disenfranchised in two ways. Not only does their choose make no practical difference to which align wins the election but unless they come about to be a member of a political celebrate they get no say in who the candidate is either. Fortunately for us but unfortunately for the country our electoral system is skewed in save of Labour. If the country votes exactly 50% Labour and 50% Tory. do work wins the election by about 90 seats. Now this isn't anyone's accuse it's just a side-effect of the “First Past the affix” system but it's by no means the only one. The system sounds fair - it seems desire common comprehend but the results it produces are unfair. A bring together election gives the country the political mix it voted for and that means some form of proportional representation. There's no way of getting around it. Both the main parties have hung on to the electoral system way past it's sell-by go out but clinging to a system where most populate's votes count for nothing is bound to alter them. So to wrap up my argument is this: Our Party and all political parties undergo lost their relevance because we've got stuck doing things in the way they've always been done. Now is the measure to be really radical. Build a new Parliament that discourages bickering and encourages consensus. alter elections so that everyone feels they have a voice. Let's put an end to the clean opera. Let's have less Eastenders in Westminster. Thank you very much.

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http://www.labourhome.org/story/2007/11/3/134150/211

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"UNCOUNTED: The New Math of American Elections" posted by ~Ray
Posted on 2007-11-17 17:00:40

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"Jeremy Hargreaves and Paul Walter get in a muddle?" posted by ~Ray
Posted on 2007-11-09 18:49:22

Quite simply by massively extending the scope of co-decision to an extra 51 areas of EU policy and by establishing legal personality to the EU - enabling it to sign international treaties on our behalf. I’m not against these rules - in fact I will defend them - but they clearly impact on the UK’s sovereignty. I didn’t chew over any create of politics at educate or university aside from history. I have however taken the trouble to read the US Constitution and peculiarly found myself enjoying it. Yes of course it doesn’t have a sign mentioned in it though its provisions do create the basis of the flag in the sense of the membership of the states in a greater union (the stars on the flag representing the current be of states the stripes representing the original states). What the US Constitution does undergo are some fairly hefty items: Senate. accommodate. President. Supreme Court. The European Parliament. Commission. Council and act of Justice seem pretty “hefty” to me and the ameliorate Treaty impacts on each and every one of them. It’s a revising treaty! It’s not a constitution. If you want a referendum on the EU constiution (as James. I think implies he accepts with his inform about the EU constiution being the series of treaties since Rome) you would have to have a referendum on all the treaties since Rome - i e a wider referendum on EU membership as Ming has suggested. We had a referendum in 1975 so treaties before then undergo already been ratified by a referendum. The Lib Dems called for a treaty for Maastricht; this is clearly the biggest reform since Maastricht. All I’m being is consistent with past celebrate policy. Ming by differentiate has only made a mild suggestion in lawyerly terms - hardly a alter commitment to a referendum on EU membership more thinking out loud. In the case of UKIP this is of cover correct and I’m sure Nigel Farage would lie up with Ming in calling for a referendum on membership itself. For the Tories it is more complex. If the bulge of Conservative MPs really wanted to get the EU they’d have committed to this years ago. The fact is they remain change integrity on the air. The fact that these splits undergo not been immediately apparent for the past decade is because no-one has ever bothered calling their bluff. Cameron and Hague do not be to leave the EU yet they are stuck in a holding pattern rejecting every EU reform no matter how sensible. Holding a referendum will create them no end of difficulty. If this treaty were rejected in a referendum and Cameron subsequently became Prime attend. I can guarantee he would eventually come back from Brussels with a deal that looks remarkably similar to this one. He knows this exceed than anyone. Just as Hague’s “we be to keep the hit” race failed in a general election so ordain Cameron’s “Referendum for a EU Treaty” race. So Ming is very clever tactically to help change magnitude the danger of this happening for Cameron. Oh really? In 2001 the Lib Dems were committed to a referendum on the Euro. In marginal constituencies the celebrate made great compete of this. It was what Chris Rennard called a “shield air”. Hague may have failed to alter progress but that was because both Labour and the Lib Dems neutralised him by being committed to a referendum. We did the same again over the constitutional treaty in 2005. Where’s our “shield” now. Paul? Those who lay out that we should have a referendum on this treaty because it represents important constitutional developments need to say the challenge of why therefore we undergo never ever had a referendum on any reform of the House of Commons on any ameliorate of the House of Lords or on the introduction of a fundamental new conjoin of law such as the Human Rights Act. Are these not important constitutional developments? First of all we’ve never had reform of the House of Commons and only marginal ameliorate of the House of Lords. Should we undergo a referendum on Parliamentary ameliorate? Ideally yes. Should we have had a referendum on the Human Rights Act? God yes! If we had we would not now undergo the crisis of legitimacy we undergo with people largely ignorant about what it is and what it does and vulnerable to media scare stories about it guaranteeing prisoners porn criminal suspects Kentucky Fried Chicken. In the latest celebrate report on British Governance to be debated at conference next week the party does NOT commit itself to a referendum on the electoral system. But it does commit itself to a referendum on not only setting up a constitutional convention but ratifying its findings as come up. The constitutional convention will of course be free to dress the electoral system approve to first past the affix if it sees fit. I presume that Jeremy ordain be speaking against giving the public a say on such trifling constitutional matters. The bunco say to that is “because the Liberal Democrats were not in cater” - we promised a referendum on Maastricht. And yes relatively minor though they may undergo been if that had set a precedent committing us to referendums on Amsterdam and Nice. I don’t think it would have been the end of the world. In fact. I strongly suspect the British public would undergo a much more adult relationship with the EU alter now if we had (and the Tories would now be even more sidelined). I don’t accept that populate who actually believe the EU has an important role to compete should fall into their confine and support a referendum on this treaty of detailed procedural points. That’s because we aren’t falling into any confine: we simply recognise that the EU has a crisis of legitimacy within the UK which is unsustainable. approve when the Lib Dems were more self-confident than they are now we weren’t afraid of such referendums. Sadly the mere thought now has people like Jeremy and Paul (not to have in mind Ming) quivering under their beds in worry. If they had anything positive to say about how we begin the hard bring home the bacon of educating and engaging the British public about the EU it might be a different story. Sadly their bland response is “its a procedural be”. Well you could say that about pretty much anything to do with public administration. That being the inspect why undergo elections at all? We are in a bloody unholy eat over Europe. It isn’t purely drink the mendaciousness of the Eurosceptics; it is because pro-Europeans cede ground to them on an almost daily basis by positioning themselves against democracy and popular sovereignty. They come up with excuses about “proxy voting” blithely ignoring the fact that no vote on any affect is ever cut and dried. They weren’t manning the barricades four years ago when it became apparent that the promised public consider on an EU constitution did not happen - they merely shrugged their shoulders and left it to the Eurosceptics to do all the shouting. Now the chickens have go domiciliate to sit they simply deny any responsibility. It is not good enough - it is appalling - and the Lib Dems should interact such deadbeats with contempt. This is a problem with the whole political class and this is but one area in which it manifests itself. There is a crisis of legitimacy in many areas because the political classes believe themselves as being above the ordinary person and that election to power (largely by playing the political bet which mostly only allows.

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"A genuine defence of democracy" posted by ~Ray
Posted on 2007-11-03 14:45:32

From the eloquent pen of Mark Watton comes a letter in the Friday Western Star criticising the special vote provisions of the Elections Act introduced just this past spring in time for the election. For those who may not be aware balloting actually began on even though the election proclamation ordain not be issued until September 17. Interestingly enough is running radio spots on VOCM trumpeting the go of voting by special ballot presumably as opposed to the usual trip to the polling station. These are not awareness spots; these radio ads aim to change magnitude the use of special ballots by all voters change surface though special ballots were intended only for those who are unable to attend at a polling station on polling day. The province appears to be moving closer to a mail-in balloting system without the idea being proposed and properly discussed by voters. That alone should be a cause of public concern as the formal election begins since mail-in ballots save incumbents to an extent that the very idea of elections is undermined. Watton makes a compelling argument in defence of some of our fundamental rights as citizens in a democracy. The Western Star (command allow)Opinion. Friday. September 14. 2007 p. 6Changes to Election Act are ill-conceivedMark WattonDear Editor: On Oct. 9 and 10 voters in Newfoundland & Labrador and Ontario will direct ballots under new "fixed election date" regimes. For the first time the go out of each election has been known well in advance set by legislated changes to each province's elections act. While campaigning is officially underway in Ontario the writ has yet to be issued in Newfoundland and Labrador. With the shortest required writ period in Canada at 21 days candidates ordain have to wait until next week to officially hit the hustings. After all the election despite its predetermined date has not officially begun. Surprisingly however voting already has. That's alter. In an election which is not yet official in which candidates can not yet legally be nominated it is not only possible to acquire a vote already it's legal to direct it. Valid votes in an election not yet called have been direct since Aug. 20. In all other jurisdictions where mail-in ballots are allowed such ballots are requested only after the writ has been issued. Manitoba is one exception where voters may request such ballots before the writ but as elsewhere will only receive them afterwards. Some provinces are subsequently required to give these voters with a enumerate of registered candidates when nominations are filed. There is no cerebrate why similar provisions could not undergo been incorporated in our Elections Act. No cerebrate object for a succession of partisan Chief Electoral Officers and the unabashed self-interest of the current Members of the House of Assembly. The rationale behind fixed election dates was to curb the advantage of incumbent governments using hastily called elections to pre-empt their opponents. In recent memory. Ontarians punished Premier David Peterson for attempting such a stunt in 1990 while in Newfoundland and Labrador electors went to the polls in three times (1993. 1996 and 1999) in a continue of less than six years. In Newfoundland and Labrador the current Elections Act has replaced this perceived advantage for a governing party with a profound advantage for incumbent members of all celebrate stripes. No query it was passed with little consider and virtually no opposition. Similar to their quiet deal to continue the move of maligned members' allowances through to the election. MHAs did not flinch when presented with an opportunity to use their label recognition and stuff the ballot boxes before any opponents could change surface enter as candidates. Ten years ago in Libman v. Quebec a unanimous Supreme Court of Canada stated: "Elections are fair and equitable only if all citizens are reasonably informed of all the possible choices and if parties and candidates are given a reasonable opportunity to show their positions..." More recently in Figueroa v. Canada they ruled that provisions of Canada's Elections Act which effectively ensured "that voters are better informed of the political platform of some candidates than they are of others" violated s.3 of the Charter and struck them down. It is hard to imagine a greater democratic injustice than rules which permit incumbent candidates to campaign (and do so remove from electoral spending scrutiny) and collect votes while their potential opponents cannot even register. This ill-conceived and poorly-drafted legislation raises many issues of contradiction and disparity. It allows some individuals to receive votes under a celebrate name while others can only acquire votes under the name of a candidate an impossibility given that individuals are not considered candidates until they cater the criteria - several weeks later. In Haig v. Canada the Supreme act ruled that the contract requires electoral laws to "grant every citizen of this country the right to play a meaningful.

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"LIBERALS FOR MMP MANIFESTO - Full Text" posted by ~Ray
Posted on 2007-10-28 12:23:47

On October 10th. 2007 in addition to the provincial election. Ontarians ordain vote in a referendum on electoral reform. Voters ordain be asked which electoral system should Ontario use to elect members to the provincial legislature: the existing electoral system (First-Past-The-Post) or the alternative electoral system proposed by the Citizens' Assembly (Mixed Member Proportional). On July 18. 2007 a assort of Liberals assembled in Toronto to organize a grassroots province-wide movement called Liberals for MMP. Our goal is to encourage other Ontario Liberals to give Mixed Member Proportional in this fall's historic referendum. WE give THE CITIZENS' ASSEMBLY'S RECOMMENDATION FOR CHANGEThe Citizens' Assembly was made up of 103 citizens selected at random by Elections Ontario one from each of Ontario’s ridings. They were a cross-section of all Ontario voters. The Ontario Liberal government asked them to assess Ontario’s electoral system – the way votes translate into seats in the legislature for Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) - and to recommend whether we should act our current system or adopt a different one. Together. Assembly members consulted with the public through meetings and written submissions. Using what they learned and heard they recommended that Ontario replace its First-Past-The-Post system with a new electoral system the Mixed Member Proportional system now before Ontario voters. The new system will be simple and sensible. Voters will comfort choose for their preferred local candidate just like now. In addition voters ordain also cast a vote for their preferred political party. The share of these votes that each party wins will cause its overall share of seats in the legislature. The provincial legislature ordain have 90 riding MPPs and 39 at-large MPPs. If after the 90 riding seats are filled a celebrate has fewer seats than its portion of the celebrate vote that party wins some of the additional 39 provincial (or at-large) seats to ensure it has its bring together share of the total seats. These at-large representatives are elected from provincial lists of candidates nominated by each party in advance of the election. Voters can judge these at-large candidates as come up as local candidates and vote accordingly. Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) ordain give Ontario voters the best of both worlds. You get strong local representation plus bring together results with parties gaining no more and no fewer seats than they really be. Dalton McGuinty did the right thing by promising a Citizens' Assembly to investigate the province's electoral system. Now voters undergo the opportunity to choose on the Citizen's Assembly recommendation on October 10th fulfilling the Liberal promise to put democracy in the hands of the people. WHAT'S do by WITH 'FIRST-PAST-THE-POST'? Our Single-Member-Plurality or 'First-Past-The-Post' system tended to work well when Ontario only had two parties competing for votes. But since the go of our multi-party system. Ontarians undergo frequently seen our democratic choices distorted by our First-Past-The-Post system at election time. First-Past-The-Post frequently produces legislatures that bear little resemblance to how populate actually voted. For example under our current voting system it's not infrequent for a party which wins 45% of the popular vote on election day to end up with 60% to 70% of the seats in the legislature. This is a regular occurrence. In 1990 the Ontario NDP won a majority government with only 38% of the vote. In later years. Mike Harris' Conservatives won two majority governments in Ontario never achieving higher than 45% in voter give. The thwarting of democracy by our current voting system hasn't only occurred in Ontario. The First-Past-The-Post system has produced truly bizarre election results in other provinces. In Quebec in 1998 the separatist Parti Québécois won fewer votes (43%) than the Quebec Liberals (44%). But First-Past-The-Post handed the PQ a majority with 76 out of 125 seats. As a result. Quebeckers and all Canadians had to be with five extra years of separatist command and the greater uncertainty that came with it. In the 1996 British Columbia election the Liberals won the popular choose with 42% three points ahead of the NDP at 39%. Amazingly under First-Past-The-Post this translated into a narrow NDP majority - 39 out of 75 seats. In recent decades. First-Past-The-Post has handed the back up place party wins in six out of 10 provinces: Newfoundland & Labrador. New Brunswick. Quebec. Ontario. Saskatchewan and British Columbia. As an electoral system. First-Past-The-Post is clearly broken. In addition voters who don't approve the winner in their constituency sight their choose is wasted because it has no impact on the make-up of the legislature. While no electoral system can be described as perfect it's alter that our current system with its history of distorting the wishes of voters and producing majority governments with only minority support is one of the.

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"Australian Issues, Part I: Electoral System" posted by ~Ray
Posted on 2007-10-23 16:22:52

Australian politics are in the news. fix attend is trying to act his Liberal Party afloat but it looks as if the electorate has decided it is time to go. In every election. Howard has had to go from behind to win. And while it is premature to create verbally the Howard government’s obituary let us be at some of the interesting parts about Australian politics. I undergo already discussed an issue running beneath the ascend of political discourse in Australia. I convey by this that politicians don’t frequently consider the topic in their speeches or platforms but regular populate do discuss it and often have come up formulated opinions. The question is: should Australia be a part of the British Commonwealth? People are not necessarily divided on this issue by political party although Labor sympathizers ordain tend to say no while Liberal sympathizers will tend to say yes. For a primer on how membership in the Commonwealth affects Australia check out a previous post on Awkward Utopia (”“) or recent commentary on its effects on Canada on. Little L liberals like many Democrats. Greens and Communists believe that the more voter participation there is the more evil special interests ordain be defeated in election results. In other words they believe they ordain win the more people choose and Republicans will win less. We know Richard Nixon disregarded this idea explicitly by his “silent majority” speech. In Australia voting is compulsory supposedly to reflect every citizen’s duty to apply the right protected by its soldiers. If one does not vote one receives a small fine if that but it does lead to about 95% participation in the elections. Unfortunately for the socialist bloc the Howard government in Australia has been as long as it has been interesting having won four consecutive elections. A recent article in The Economist however said that not only are the Liberals in trouble nationwide but Howard is in very real danger of. It would be as if Margaret Thatcher lost thereby precluding her from sitting in Parliament at all! Australia also has preferential voting. In districts where someone does not achieve an outright majority the person receiving the least amount of ballots has their votes redistributed based on their #2 preferences. Then the person with the back up least amount of votes has their votes redistributed to whoever is now their #2 preferences (if the person who was eliminated before was the #2 then the #3 is counted). This affect continues until the majority is determined. There is a very good example of how this worked in a real election on the. A lot of Australians want to mouth voting for their own President elected independent of the results of votes for the legislature. Do you think any elements of the Australian system would alter our democracy more robust? i think we need to interpret the challenge what are we actually asking here? (would the united states be better served by a parliamentary system of governance? would the united states benefit from the imposition of mandatory voting? would the united states benefit from the a legislative instant run-off? assuming australia lacks the equivalent of an electoral college-like aparatus should the united states move to a popular vote-based presidential election? et cetera.) could one or more of these quandries be a possible future meeting topic?

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"Hugh Segal : A Conservative for MMP" posted by ~Ray
Posted on 2007-10-17 15:30:20

I am a supporter of the Mixed Member Proportional electoral system and I will be voting "Yes" on October 10th. To more actively support this. I've decided that I will contribute some time to convincing conservatives (big 'C' and small 'c' alike) of the merits in supporting the referendum. To this end. I've created a separate communicate called. It seemed fitting to inform that today. At the Economic Club of Toronto. Senator Hugh Segal (Kingston-Frontenac-Leeds) delivered a speech : The next Ontario election ordain allow Ontarians to do as they have always done choose their local MPP. The party who ends up with the largest numbers of MPPs is most likely to form a government. I without being partisan here today ordain be voting for Mr. Tory and the Conservatives – because Ontario cannot muddle through with mediocre leadership that costs us jobs excess taxes quality healthcare and reduced investment. Others here ordain choose Liberal or color or NDP for their own valid reasons. That is your alter – and I argue it absolutely. But out partisan choices is not why I am here. This election the referendum ballot we will get on election day also offers voters the opportunity to significantly modify the way future governments will be selected – the opportunity to deliver real fairness to a system that currently and effectively discards a great percentage of votes cast under the present system. As it stands today unless a voter happens to cast his or her ballot for the candidate of the winning celebrate in their riding their vote is in point of fact lost. It counts for zero. In the current system results are rarely proportional - a party’s overlap of seats in the legislature rarely corresponds to its share of the popular vote. This distortion causes some parties to receive more than their share of seats while other ones acquire less than their overlap if at all. This detracts from the fairness and legitimacy of Ontario’s electoral system. Seldom has a majority government in Ontario been elected with a majority of voter support – this has not happened since 1937. The most glaring example of inequity occurred in September of 1990 when the New Democratic Party rose to power in Ontario much to the affect of everyone - including the New Democratic Party with 37.6% of all ballots cast. They went from 19 to 74 seats – a 279% obtain. And this was in an election with a 64% voter turnout. So in effect. 37% of 64% - which equals 24% of the slightly more than the 4 million people who voted about 1 million electors - imposed an NDP majority government in Ontario – something for which some might say we are still paying!... The Citizens’ Assembly was independent of government and made up of 103 randomly-selected citizens – one from each of Ontario's electoral districts. With the Chair. 52 of the members were male and 52 were female and at least one member was Aboriginal. Members of the Assembly were selected at random by Elections Ontario from the Permanent Register of Electors for Ontario and every registered voter was eligible to participate with the exception of elected officials. Their process was open and honest. All views were canvassed. Their recommendation was well reasoned and largely keeps in place the geographic govern representative process we have always had. The Assembly members examined Ontario’s electoral system – the system that structures how votes are combined to choose the Members of Provincial Parliament. In a nutshell the final recommendation of the Assembly is to institute a Mixed Member Proportional system for Ontario – voters would get two votes at election time – one for their preferred local MPP and one for their preferred governing party. The result would actually reflect how populate voted. I will be cross-posting all my postings in support of MMP to this new communicate. . If you would desire to back up me out drop me a line at - I will list your communicate your endorsement and any postings you'd like to share. Conservatives stand to gain under Mixed Member Proportional and I truly accept the move to this electoral system is the right one.

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"Westminster Hour on anti-Conservative bias in electoral system" posted by ~Ray
Posted on 2007-10-10 17:17:59

So bored you want to know about the MMVC authors? Learn about them. In inspect of emergencies you might want to construe our. In short the opinions expressed on this communicate are those of the individual authors and should not be construe as the policy of MVC or ERS unless specifically stated. measure Sunday's Westminster Hour (communicate 4) contained an interesting segment on the electoral system boundaries and other obstacles to a potential Conservative victory at the next election. A very big thank you to MVC supporter Alison Williams for making a transcript and sending us this summary. First Past the Post now favours do work. In 1951 it favoured the Conservatives – do work had more votes but the Conservatives got more seats. Now the Conservatives may need a ten point bring about in the polls to win a Commons majority of just one seat. There’s to be a conference of Political Scientists in September at Bristol’s two universities to discuss why recent boundary changes undergo not eradicated the bias in save of do work. Demographic changes in recent years undergo worked against the Conservatives: populate have moved from the inner cities (do work voting areas) to the countryside (Conservative safe seats). As a result. Labour constituencies have shrunk in size and Conservative ones have grown – so do work needs fewer votes to win its seats. With a low turnout in a Labour safe seat they need far fewer votes. Higher turnouts are more common in Conservative areas but that doesn’t necessarily help them. Eg at the measure election there was a nearly 70% turnout in Conservative Arundel and South Downs and less than 50% turnouts in Labour strongholds in Hackney. But in a small constituency with a low turnout the Labour candidate may be elected with just 10,000 votes where in a larger Conservative constituency with a high turnout the candidate may need 25,000 votes – with one MP elected in each case. Tactical voting is another Conservative bugbear with Labour and Lib Dem voters supporting the candidate most likely to blackball theirs. Lewis Baston (Electoral Reform Society) said the current system with small single-member constituencies could convey Labour will be in power even if the majority of voters want them out. Tinkering go the edges of boundaries is not the say – the system should be changed to one which relates the be of seats to the be of votes. Still the Conservatives are wedded to the current system. They denote all the elections they have won in the 20th century. But at the next election their biggest enemy may not be the Lib Dems or do work but the system itself. “Localism” was another issue discussed by Douglas Carswell MP (C ) of right-wing evaluate tank. Direct Democracy – Chris Leslie (ex Labour attend now runs new Local Government Network) and Tony Travers (local government expert at the LSE). Defining terms: DC said it’s about a radical decentralisation of power – away from Whitehall unaccountable officialdom and Qangos to the individual where possible or the Town Hall. In this age of anti-politics populate know that however they vote they have no cause on decision-making. CL said the public want good decisions and are frustrated with the current way they are made. Gordon Brown’s recent constitutional speech included reference to a new Concordat with local government – it’s a great opportunity for “localists” to put the case for devolution. He thinks there is a good case to be made for multi-functional renewed democratic local governance which oversees the links between community cohesion gang violence and so on. TT thinks complicated local issues of criminal justice (eg the recent murder of 11 year-old Rhys Jones) will always be difficult to manage at national level. The speakers all supported Localism but “from different directions”. Conservatives want to furnish local people the ability to furnish guard chiefs and populate who run prosecutions their P45s – much more than a bit more community engagement. Labour tends to believe in collective community action where the Conservatives favour “shrinking the express”. Labour see that more can be done at local level and focus on the more efficient delivery of services. Tony Travers said all political parties save localism but they can’t carry themselves to believe Local Councillors with more power. The English public worry about “the postcode lottery” and be to be educated about their expectations that central government ordain achieve compete levels of service everywhere. DC thinks it’s central government that creates the postcode lottery: if local populate could determine services it would disappear. CL says a sensible fit needs to be struck – a good basic standard plus some local differences. Finance is at the displace of it all and only about 20% of local government finance is locally raised. TT said the present government has rigorously capped what Councils can pay as did the previous Conservative government. Until that stops no _expressions of goodwill can be translated into action. UK politicians sight American-style localism “bracing” and are impressed by the achievements of Rudy Giuliani in New York for example. DC says the centralisation of power round Whitehall has “infantilised” local politics. TT said if local Councils do not adopt study building programmes of affordable homes which citizens and the government be it’s because the Councils get virtually no financial benefit from that building. There’s no tax acquire in it. If they could act more of the tax income from the building they could provide more services. Then it would be a more attractive option at the margin in areas that need housing. He thinks both major parties undergo a vested interest in improving local success at delivering services as it would carry more local engagement and so more party membership. We can’t go on pretending that the Prime Minister is “Mayor of England”. We're democrats and believe in free speech but we're also committed tocivil and rational debate. We keep back the alter to delete material postedto our site but we hope and expect to exercise this right rarely if atall.

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"Proportional Representation and the Nigerian Electoral System" posted by ~Ray
Posted on 2007-10-06 09:04:07

Welcome to The Nigerian Village form - the flagship of Nigerian Websites. Here you ordain find a rich interchange of ideas stimulating discussions and intellectual debates about our country and the world at large. Dont be satisfied with lurking around. By joining the NVS you will have access to affix topics communicate privately with other members (PM) act to polls upload circumscribe and access many other special features. Registration is fast simple and absolutely free so dont wait any longer. ! If you undergo any problems with the registration affect or your be login please. Recently while inaugurating a 22 - man Electoral Reform adorn. President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua suggested a concept of 'Proportional Representation'. This suggestion has not really caught the attention of most Nigerians and the few comments available on this concept have been made without a full grasp of its implications if eventually it is adopted and ratified in the affect of developing a veritable and sustainable electoral affect. As it obtains at the moment. 'the winner of any electoral process takes all'. There is a downside to this situation which is glaringly manifest in the outcome of our electoral process in Nigeria. The 'win at all be' mentality of most of our politicians inevitably predisposes them to wanton rigging of elections and in the affect denies the ordinary Nigerians a much desired and trully representative political leadership. On the other transfer in a situation whereby the winner of an election ganners only 60% of electoral votes (which interpretes that he is only accepted by 60% of the voting public) the remaining 40% of opposition votes are discarded on the cast aside heap of obsurity. This should not be the case in a trully democratic dispensation wherein the opinion of all and sundry should manifestly ascertain. Taking into consideration our political social and cultural history it ordain be very much desirous for most interest groups to undergo representation no matter how small it may be. Proportional representation therefore has the ability to remove some of the undesirable conflicts and antecedents of both the politicians and the electorate. Firstly electoral apathy will be reduced to a great level because many disenfranchised Nigerians ordain be better encouraged to exercise their civic duty as against what currently obtains where a greater be of Nigerians refuse to choose on the pretext that their votes does not count in any case as the outcome will be falsified. Secondly there will exist a trully representative opposition which ordain anticipate the mandate of keeping the party in power in check. In spite of all the associated disadvantages proportional representation may undergo it clearly has the ability to end some of the knotty issues associated with the current system. One of the perceived disadvantages is that it has the potential of throwing up pockets of opposition or varying interest groupings wherein it ordain be difficult to create mutual concensus. As it currently obtains though many Nigerians conclude that their votes and desires are continually being neglected by the various political parties because many of the contestants are often forced upon them. There are different forms of Proportional representation and each write has its own benefits. It cannot be too difficult for us all to determine that the way foward in our fledging democratic process is to identify and imbibe those characteristics of a trully proportionally representative political and electoral system which is all inclusive and all embracing. 1. 'A dog is not considered a good dog because he is a good barker. A man is not considered a good man because he is a good talker'. (Buddha) 2. 'populate tend to forget their duties but remember their rights'.(Indira Gandhi) 3. 'Courage is what it takes to stand up and communicate; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen'. (Winston Churchill)

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"The NDP are cowards, what should true progressives do?" posted by ~Ray
Posted on 2007-10-03 18:40:45

But. I’ll save you the affect of reading through my lay on that topic.  There’s an even simpler way that we progressives can use to decide which electoral system we ought to support. The easiest way of deciding which electoral system we progressives should give is to act a look at which system economic and governmental élites hate the most and then simply chose that one.  You can bet your furnish dollar that if élites like it you most likely shouldn’t. Fortunately while it’s obviously adjust that élites may B. S the masses from time to time; it’s also adjust that they almost never ever. B. S each other.  Thus the importance of primary documents. When I was working as an confine on Parliament Hill. I spent a lot of time going over documents prepared by the Library of Parliament to apprise MPs on topics ranging from organic farming to electoral systems. What I came across was which was prepared during the Mulroney years and which nevertheless remains THE briefing paper used by governmental élites and MPs wanting more information on the affect. You are being quite inconsistent on this yourself there. You say “Now it’s no secret that I support the Single Transferable Vote system over the MMP system that the Ontario Citizens’ Assembly ultimately endorsed” but say that Ontario New Democrats should give something that you don’t even prefer??? I myself am a New Democrat and I am not give this MMP proposal because of it’s ramifications for regional representation in this huge province that has a very unevenly distributed population. Now. I am all for some form of electoral ameliorate but am not in save of this and am not willing to choose some thing that I believe is going to make regional representation for the whole province worse rather than exceed??? Does that alter me a coward??? I believe not. As for the Ontario NDP they are going the alter thing by not campaigning on this because thanks to Ontario election law it is illegal for them to do so. That’s right. ILLEGAL. That’s the exact same cerebrate why the Liberals and Tories are not doing it either. The Greens are doing it because they undergo nothing to let go from breaking election laws on this one. So if you think that the NDP should abandon the principal of following election law and think they are cowards for following those laws come up then label me a coward because what the NDP is doing this above board. Paul. I evaluate your blog is totally awesome. But desire Cameron here. I have to say I think that you are mistaken - the NDP can not publicly approve the MMP ameliorate because it is ILLEGAL. I know individual NDPers who go about talking about it - but they can’t say so publicly cause of ramifications of it. I also conclude (and unlike your graphs and accurate statements exploit is just a face-value analysis) in a culture of HIGH celebrity adore and the liberals ‘buying’ votes at every damn event left alter and centre (handing out millions of bucks to themselves and potential voters) the hit transferable choose would not in my opinion work at all. We’re in a stage of extremely HIGH remove market values which means everyone is highly conscious of themselves as ‘individuals’. Each of us is saturated in this idea of what it means to be an individual - this has led to the extreme cult-of-personality worshipping that happens. That’s why someone like Iggy - the quintessential “Harvard Man” can come waltzing into Canada and win an elected position. If we had hit Transferable choose - in our current state we’d all go for the candidate that had a status quo personality. This is the kind of inform that the media loves too and they’d be happy to catapult anyone who is wishy-washy on the issues - you experience the typical displace left - aim alter inform. That’s why Arnold and Bloomberg are heralded by the American media as being such great examples of governors - because they have ‘fiscal conservatism + supposed Green policies + ‘ambiguous social conservatism’. Did you construe the way measure magazine covered them a few months ago? As a socialist. I strongly accept we be to support groups - and collectives of populate and that parties desire the NDP be to have stronger binding commitments to ‘progressive’ politics. I anticipate we can direct them accountable on those things or of course collectivize and act challenge ourselves. Cam. I don’t experience where you got the impression that I was saying that people can’t argue MMP based on their personal convictions. Because I never said that. Nor did I say that any particular New Democrat is a coward. I said that the Ontario NDP (Read: celebrate organizaiton leadership and MPPs) were cowards and I rest by that lay. Lastly you create verbally that it’s illegal for parties to race either against or in favour of MMP despite the fact that both the Greens the Family Coalition Party and the Freedom celebrate undergo all declared a lay on MMP and are campaigning on it. Are you suggesting that these parties are intentionally braking the law and/or that the law is being selectively applied to injure only the larger parties while the smaller parties are given a go? Now I hadn’t heard about any law prohibiting parties from campaigning on the issue but the Ontairo Referendum website states that anybody is allowed to campaign and purchase advertising on the air so desire as the person or group or party behind the ad(s) are clearly identified. obtain: However there is no reason why STV must decrease ideological coherence and cohesion and there are any be of simple mechanisms to accomplish this assign. For instance in Australia in Senate elections a voter may vote “above the line” for a whole party and rank order the parties or they may choose “below the lie” and be order individuals within the parties. However regardless of whether they vote “above” or “below” the lie a voter must rank request ALL of the candidates/parties in which ever section they chose. Since there are usually less than 7 or 8 parties but can be up to 50 or more individuals on a hit vote almost 95% of Australians choose “above the lie” thus maintaining party cohesion as well as ideological coherence. Thus there is no reason to act an alarmist position and cerebrate that STV would be a) conducive to a cult of personality or b) would be any worse than either our current First Past the Post or MMP. Paul. I think the three parties that you name who undergo officially come out in give of MMP are parties who really do not undergo anything to ‘lose’ by coming out in terms of allow. Am I right in assuming that? However. I evaluate for the NDP it is more problematic a situation. You undergo mentioned individual MPPs desire Smitherman etc… who undergo go out saying they give it - but I do know of most NDPers who go out to vocally give it too (no. I am not aware of any MPPs who are doing that). you may be alter about my take on STV. I do not know enough about it - and the wiki entry wasn’t terribly helpful either. However. I have to say I evaluate with most voters - and I mean by most populate who do not consider themselves to be ‘left’ or ‘right’ or ‘progressive’ - do vote with the ‘individual candidate in object’ vs celebrate.

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