Thursday, June 5, 2008

This isn't right

I was not in the People's Republic when it was decided to do away with the First Past the Post electoral system. I was not privy to the discussions that resulted in the form of MMP that we now have. Whatever was proposed that eventually got the nod surely was not what we have ended up with. No one in their right mind could have consciously and with malice aforethought wanted MMP New Zealand style circa 2008 - surely. Or maybe the malice bit belies that.

The Greens are, surprise surprise, at the bottom of the latest total travesty. They are party made up entirely of list MPs - a concept that has me shaking my head in disbelief for starters. They have never had a properly elected MP (and are never likely to) and if they fail to reach the magic and aribitrary 5% threshold in a couple of months time they will be completely wiped out as a parliamentary party - couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of blokes. All that notwithstanding we have had to put up with them for the past years being the tail that has wagged the dog of a country. How far do you think the anti smacking nonsense would have got without MMP?

This bunch of unelected toads was right on Helen's hip in getting the draconian Electoral Finance Act passed. They stood there on the moral high ground of their own imaginations and told us how any electoral process must be fair and transparent and how a vital plank of democracy must not be besmirched by big secret money being paid to 'other parties'. Read National for that as all the cranks who support the Commies wouldn't have two farthings to rub together.

So it is these paragons of virtue who are blatantly fiddling around with the list so that the Ginga Leader can get into Parliament for a couple of months. For what? So he can have a higher profile and I would assume rort some election expenses off me as he is now an MP and the EFA has a subsection c paragraph ii which says he can. Nandor Ropehead wants to stand down (lie down in a chemically altered state more like) and his place has to be taken by the next on the list. We are already stretching the boundaries of the phrase 'has to' here. Mr Next on the List is not Ginga and says he wants to go to Bellamys and Ginga can sod off. What to do? The Green heavies are sent round to Mr Next on the List's whare with the socks full of lentils and wind farm powered bright lights, Mr NotL changes his mind and suddenly it is alright for Ginga to go to Wellington. Well no it's not. If all the above was not bad enough the damned man wasn't even on the list that the stupid people who wasted their vote on the Greens voted for in 2005. All the Greens are doing is putting their own interests in front of any other consideration - including the pretence of a democracy that we have in The People's Republic.

This is a travesty of governance and should be seen as such and no more.

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