GB Elections - Thoughts.

 

Now it’s time to put in focus the recent general elections in GB - I’m afraid I can no longer use the term UK, for united we’re not!

Just 52% of the adults cast their ballots; the lowest turnout since the vote was extended to adults over 21 in 1928, Statistics from The Institute of Public Policy think tank found that higher turnout rates were seen in constituencies where there were more older people and wealthy homeowners. The IPPR’s simple deduction from these data is that

 “The ‘haves’ speak much louder than the ‘have-nots’ in British democracy.”

                                                           

And there’s the key, the term democracy, we need to look closely at to see what’s happening. If the majority of those who can vote don’t, the results are skewed and don’t represent the citizens’ opinion of that state. Moreover, those who do not vote can still have an effect on popular opinion. The social media provide global podia for the voices of those who would not otherwise be heard. Posts are awash with emotive language, conspiracy theories, unsubstantiated information, stands adopted that are polarizing and often abusive.                                                

 Essentially they constitute the ‘clickbait’ that these sites need to survive, attracting readers as a passive ad-audience. Many people will not deign to stoop to such a low intellectual level; some are afraid to respond for fear of reprisals. Certainly such material producers are well capable of influencing opinion: either some readers will adopt these neat polarized opinion packages or become so disillusioned as to opt out of the whole political arena – declining to vote.                                                  

Let’s look at what happened in Scotland. The number who cast their ballots now was down by 500,000 in comparison to that in the last election. That would seem to indicate general disenchantment with the lack of progress being made towards independence – a fire that apparently still burns strong.

                                            

 And many votes cast were not in support of any party but rather targeted on getting Tories out. The power of Independence support is splintered: SNP, The Yes Movement, Alba and other Indy groups. It is not enough to sing ‘Flower of Scotland’ ardently but to actually get things going legally, politically, idealistically, socially. For the Independence movement to be successful, it needs to forge unity, policy, commitment and trust.

 And we need to work on the whole concept of Democracy as well. Voting is simply not enough.                                      

Politicians should desist from vote-wooing tactics, while the electorate must appreciate that along with rights, they also have duties and responsibilities. We need to ensure candidacy suitability, electoral education and for those who are elected to be accountable, responsible and committed.  Filter and checks need to be built into the systems for the electing and the elected, alike. Without them Plato’s words will be very relevant:

‘In a system where everyone has a right to rule, all sorts of selfish people who care nothing for the people but are only motivated by their own personal desires are able to attain power.’                                                                                                                                                                                            

                                                              

European Elections - my Afterthoughts.

 European Elections in Greece and General Elections in Britain done and dusted but it looks like it’s going to take a while for the resulting dust to settle in both areas.

In Greece the turnout was a woeful 41.39%. There was the usual exodus for the beach on polling Sunday because of the good weather and many see such elections as very much of secondary significance to general ones so don’t take them too seriously but that turnout was still woeful. One teacher here on a Facebook post urged people to vote beforehand since suffrage had long been fought for. Totally laudable but it was when she also took it upon herself to tell people who they should vote for, well that is where I draw the line. Let us sincerely hope she did not take that liberty with her students! :O

Shades of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie!

                                                           

I am very much a pro-European (and anti-Brexit, taken as given ☹) and I do appreciate that serving in Europe causes great intrusion into one’s private life. One is expected to up sticks and operate there without any guarantee of this being a long-term position. That’s especially demanding if you have a young family.

You may find the following to be of interest :

How are candidates nominated for election to the European Parliament?

You may nominate yourself as a candidate or be nominated by a voter from the constituency. A candidate may only be nominated in one constituency.

To be nominated or nominate yourself for membership of the European Parliament, you must do one of the following:

• Produce a Certificate of Party Affiliation
• Produce 60 statutory declarations of assentors who are registered voters in the constituency (Form EP2A must be completed by assentors and witnessed by a Commissioner for Oaths, Peace Commissioner, Notary Public, member of the Garda Síochána or official of the registration authority)
• Pay a deposit of €1,800

To apply, you must get a nomination paper from the returning officer for your constituency. You can get contact information for the returning officer for your constituency from the Franchise Section of your local authority. The returning officer must rule on whether a nomination paper is valid within one hour of receiving it.  (Source: citizensinformation.ie)

Strictly speaking, you do not need to have party affiliation as Fidias Panagiotou, below, will testify. A 24 -year-old You Tuber (Channel Fidias) from Cyprus, he stood for election on an anti-partisan platform and secured a seat! No doubt with a great deal of support from his 2.63 million subscribers.

                                                                     

In a recent interview he revealed how much money he could make as an MEP. The not inconsiderable amount in euros mostly came from the 8,000 net monthly income, a general expenditure allowance of 500 per month to cover office expenses, hard-/software, etc., 350 subsistence allowance per day for accommodation, meals,  etc..  travel expenses are refunded from receipts submitted and 2/3 of medical expenses are reimbursed.

What I find intriguing is that no specific level of education is requested –  how can we, the electorate, assess candidate suitability and just general ability? Another teacher, nominated by a minor party, admitted that her real USP was her tendency to being ‘shouty’ – thankfully not put to the test as she wasn’t elected. 😊

 But someone who was elected was the talk of the er…village – where Z is from. A local lady was standing as candidate without any of the locals realizing that that was the case. No speeches, no profile published to assess suitability, and when the news broke, no initial contact with members of the media. This lady had no secondary education to talk of, she was a cattle farmer who moved to the city to run a butcher’s shop with her son. That’s it: restricted life experience, no foreign languages. ☹

So how did this all come about, you may ask and I most certainly do. The party leader admitted that she had been nominated in an area of Athens ?? for the last general elections as a token woman candidate to balance the male/female ratio, while both he and the candidate herself admit they were both shocked she won and that what greatly contributed to her election was the fact that her surname begins with an A so her name was first on the ballot sheet for that party.

After such an admission what shocked me even more than her unsuitability is the fact that she took up the seat and is now in Brussels!! :O What she feels she can actually contribute is anyone’s guess.

 It brings to mind the timeless question that comedian Mrs Merton asked the magician’s assistant, ‘the lovely Debbie McGee’:

‘So what first attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?’

And so channelling her: ‘So Mrs A , what first attracted you to the lucrative European Parliament seat ?

 

May my faith remain un-wave-ering!!