The pace of democracy...

[fajrdrako]

Elections: we held them and a paltry few showed up. Didn't they send out enough invitations?

I am not entirely unhappy. I'm sorry to see Harper still sitting there, but I woke up this morning to the sound of a CBC radio interview with the winning candidate in my riding, Paul Dewar, whom I voted for. That was satisfying - and made me feel better about the overall results.

Why the lack of interest from the electorate? Why the low voter turn-out? I don't personally blame the potential voters who didn't even try.

I blame the politicians for not getting their message across, and for not having much of a message in the first place - there was far too much saying why the other parties were bad, and not enough focus on issues or national direction. One suspects that too many politicians don't have a message to get across, and that scares me. So it isn't about issues, it's about images.

I blame the media, who treats elections like a horse-race, with polls - which further distort results - and a sense of gamesmanship. Like gambling. It isn't about issues, it's about numbers.

Maybe they'll do better next election. Meanwhile, more of the same.

Comments

[dewline.livejournal.com]

There's a provision in those amendments that apparently states that the Governor-General can still dissolve Parliament at the drop of a hat, supposedly. A quick check of the Act online might resolve my concerns as to whether or not it actually exists.

[xinef.livejournal.com]

I suspect that they'd have needed a constitutional amendment to change that. But I still wonder why bother with a law like that if you're going to ignore it any time it is convenient? And if you can ask the GG to dissolve Parliament at any time, said law is completely useless.