Zacht Ei - New elections, please

Wednesday, June 1, 2005

New elections, please

If 85 percent of Parliament wants to support a constitution that 63 percent of the constituency rejects, it seems obvious that our representatives in the Second Chamber (our Lower House/House of Representatives) no longer represent us.

Never mind that any government led by someone who tied his own image to the result of this plebiscite should also step down, if only out of shame.

Update 21.19: Even Dutch PBS asked this very same question, about a second ago!

Update 21.21: Of course, considering the huge number of unions, environmental and consumer organizations that supported the constitution, it might be a good idea if they indulged in some soul searching as well. These organizations form what is known in the Netherlands as the 'societal midfield' (maatschappelijk middenveld) and are supposed to be the lobby groups of various interests in Dutch society. But rather than speaking his master's voice, they seem to have become just as detached from their members as many politicians have from the voters.

21:12

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NO: 63 percent!

Balkenende reacts

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Yikes, a massacre indeed! It will be very interesting to see the definitive results, and await the comments in the coming hours.

sered (ip:84.83.234.178) 1 June 2005 - 21:28 uur

Canada went through the same thing a decade or more ago, with the Charlottetown Accord. This would have amended the Canadian Constitution. Some parts were good; some bad. The bad parts outweighed the good, and the people rejected it.

Just as in Europe today, the elite, the government, and the media were all in favor and forecast the distintigration of Canada, should it fail to pass. As Canada is still in one piece, and suffering only from a corrupt Liberal Party in government, so too should Europeans feel good about rejecting "their" constitution. Like in Canada, the people had no say in specifying the changes to the constitution.

As for the elite not representing the people, the elite find the people's opinion's tiresome, when they fail to match the elite's opinions. "MOre education is required," will be the response.

ralph grabowski (ip:205.250.100.18) 1 June 2005 - 21:30 uur

You poor, naive, ignorant, poorly brought up, peasant (serf). Of course you're elected elites know what's best for you (whether you realize/understand/comprehend it or not).

I hope this is the beginning of the end of the Franco-German hegemon (over Europe). Europe needs an integrated, coherent "trading bloc" so why not "just" get back to the "Common Market"?

OK, so there's a struggle even there over capitalist vs socialist views. Try to let each individual country pursue their own economic vision, giving freedom of choice to each country. Then let history decide who the winners and losers are. Hey, if a country decides that they want to have a standard of living (and promise/potential) based upon the lowest common denominator, rock and roll. Nothing wrong with that. Just don't try to bring others down to your level so no one will notice the differences.

MaDr (ip:67.162.237.35) 1 June 2005 - 2:16 uur

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Doorbakken kan altijd nog

New elections, please

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