PR bogs down political system
Dear editor: I understand the concern that those who are pressing for electoral reform have about the smaller parties not being represented because they don’t get enough votes to win seats under the current system.
However, the reality is that, with any kind of proportional representation system a coalition government is almost always the result.
Why is this a bad thing? Well, firstly there is a delay after the elections whilst negotiations take place to try to form a coalition. Whilst these negotiations take place, very little work is getting done and the people who we have elected to run things for us are getting paid to twiddle their thumbs.
These negotiations can take months (take a look at Germany’s last election). Then the result is that all parties involved make concessions in order to form a coalition, the result being that they all end up following a revised policy which is not the one that anybody voted for.
I believe I am correct in saying that New Zealand was the first country to switch to PR for their national elections. I recall that, after 20 years of coalition governments, a number of New Zealanders (including many leading MPs) were clamouring to return to a firstpast-the-post system. Why? Because every piece of legislation presented to Parliament had to be amended several times to accommodate the different viewpoints of the coalition members.
It was stated that, as a result, not a single piece of legislation passed since PR was introduced ended up being “fit for purpose.” In other words, government was turning into an ineffective mess. I don’t know if they ended up changing anything.
We need look no further that our present situation here in B.C. Because no party ended up with a majority, the NDP and the Greens ended up forming a coalition. As a result, the Greens are calling the shots despite having only three MLAs because the NDP can’t stay in power without them.
This is a classic case of the tail wagging the dog. This situation would become the norm under PR. Brian Butler Penticton